Nicholls hopes Master Minded can outsmart Cheltenham rivals

Paul Nicholls wants Master Minded to show he can still consistently produce top-class performances by claiming the Tingle Creek Chase, salvaged from Sandown's postponed card last weekend to this afternoon at Cheltenham.

The seven-year-old was an unstoppable force in his first couple of seasons in Britain, twice winning the Queen Mother Champion Chase and becoming the highest-rated National Hunt horse in training in the process.

His last campaign did not go so well as he suffered a broken rib when beaten on his comeback, before putting that behind him with a scintillating display at Newbury. But he was then back at square one in the Champion Chase as he could only finish a disappointing fourth.

He once again looked back to his brilliant best on his recent return to action at Ascot, and Nicholls now hopes to see him produce a similar performance at Cheltenham. "I'm very happy with him and we've had no problems since Ascot," said the champion trainer.

"Hopefully he'll be hard to beat and it would be nice to see him put two races together."

Nicholls has also declared dual Tingle Creek winner Twist Magic, but he is expected to take his chance in tomorrow's totesport.com Peterborough Chase at Huntingdon instead.

Kalahari King was not in the original line-up at Sandown last weekend but the switch to Cheltenham has prompted trainer Ferdy Murphy to let him take his chance. The nine-year-old has acquitted himself well on three previous visits to the Cotswolds and Murphy expects him to have improved for his comeback third at Kelso.

"He was a little bit tired after the race at Kelso last time but he has come out of it well," said Murphy. "He has been on the beach six of the last eight days and he really comes alive there. I think he'll run really well."

David Pipe saddles an interesting contender in Celebration Chase hero I'm So Lucky, while the Nigel Twiston-Davies-trained Mahogany Blaze will be a big outsider having failed to find the target since winning a novice chase at this track in April 2008.

On the same card, Sam Twiston-Davies vies to preserve his fairytale association with Little Josh in the Vote AP Gold Cup. Fortune has already played a considerable part in maintaining the dynamic partnership which came up trumps in the Paddy Power Gold Cup in November.

The rookie jockey was, however, resigned to losing the ride after incurring a three-day suspension at Kempton in November. But with the Tingle Creek having been switched to Cheltenham, Twiston-Davies is eligible for the ride under British Horseracing Authority regulations.

He said: "It's a great result that the Tingle Creek has been switched - it couldn't have worked out any better. Horses like him don't come around too often and I'd have hated to have given up the ride."

Although only three horses have won both races in the same season, the last being Exotic Dancer in 2006, Twiston-Davies' exuberance is understandable.

Trained by his father, Nigel Twiston-Davies, Little Josh jumped beautifully in the Paddy Power, defeating the much-vaunted Long Run after having made all of the running.

Twiston-Davies jnr added: "He's beaten Long Run, who is a very good horse, so he's obviously got 100 per cent rock-solid form. He's gone up 9lb, but that's not the end of the world because he seems to keep improving. He's not done much this week - just a bit of cantering - but he's fresh and well and ready to go."

Ireland make a powerful case for top honours, with Duers, Gonebeyondrecall and the Tony Martin duo of Northern Alliance and Psycho all having been declared.

Martin said: "Psycho has always been a good jumper but was unlucky last year and he had a few falls when he was going well. It was great to see him back to his best at Naas and the same sort of performance should put him there or thereabouts.

"Northern Alliance has been working very well and he deserves to win another big race like this. He did OK at Naas last time but probably needs the step up in trip. He's won the Kerry National over three miles so should be happy enough with the trip at the weekend."

Tom Taaffe's Finger Onthe Pulse also makes the trip across the Irish Sea and will, significantly, be ridden by Tony McCoy. The race is this season named in honour of the 15-times champion's quest to be crowned the BBC Sports Personality of the Year later in the month.