Master Minded at peak of powers

Paul Nicholls is confident Master Minded remains at the very top of his game as he bids to continue his stellar campaign in the Victor Chandler Chase at Ascot.

The dual Queen Mother Champion Chase hero looked a shadow of his former self for much of last season, suffering a broken rib early in the campaign before losing his Cheltenham crown and being found to have a breathing problem. However, an operation in the summer appears to have turned the eight-year-old's career around as he was superb on his comeback in the Amlin 1965 Chase at this venue and annihilated his rivals in the rearranged Tingle Creek at Cheltenham.

"He's in good form and I'm very happy with him," said the champion trainer, who has booked Tony McCoy to ride. "Having that breathing operation has made a big difference to him. It's just given him a bit more confidence and he's been impressive in his two runs. Hopefully he'll continue like that."

The Nick Williams-trained Gauvain inflicted a shock defeat on Forpadydeplasterer on his seasonal reappearance before placing fifth behind Master Minded in the Tingle Creek.

His big-race rider, Daryl Jacob, is hoping for an improved effort this weekend. "He went stride for stride, fence for fence with Master Minded the last day and he just blew up a bit," said Jacob. "I'm hoping that we'll get a lot closer to him this time but whether we are good enough to beat him we don't know."

Meanwhile, Noel Glynn is confident his Grand National hope Becauseicouldntsee can make his presence felt in the Peter Marsh Chase at Haydock, providing the frost-threatened course passes an early-morning inspection. The eight-year-old finished an excellent second in the four-mile National Hunt Chase at Cheltenham last year and looked better than ever when filling the same spot in a fiercely-competitive Paddy Power Chase at Leopardstown last time out.

His connections are now dreaming of Aintree glory in the spring and Glynn hopes he can show he is up to that task with a bold show this weekend.

"He's in good form. We were thinking of waiting for a race in Ffos Las in a fortnight's time, but we thought we'd go to Haydock as the fences are bigger there and we want to get his eye in for Aintree," said Glynn. "After Leopardstown we thought about maybe just staying over hurdles until the National, but he might not just have enough experience over fences to be doing that."