Paul Nicholls on his seven hopes at Cheltenham and Hereford – including Monmiral and Il Ridoto<\/h1>\n

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• Paul Nicholls gives his views on his seven runners at Cheltenham and Hereford<\/strong><\/li>\n
• He has both Monmiral and Il Ridoto saddled in the December Gold Cup\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n
• Lime Avenue\u00a0should be more competitive on her second start since a wind op<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

  Paul Nicholls has five horses running at Cheltenham and two running at Hereford on Saturday, including Monmiral ridden by Harry Cobden in the December Gold Cup.<\/p>\n

  Other Nicholls-trained horses in action include Il Ridoto, Mofasa, and Lime Avenue.\u00a0<\/p>\n

  Here, Betfair ambassador Nicholls runs us through seven of his horses set to race on Saturday.\u00a0<\/p>\n

  Cheltenham<\/h2>\n

  12:05 Kabral du Mathan<\/h2>\n

  He won his only start in a conditions hurdle in France in July and we like him a lot.\u00a0<\/p>\n

  We have given him time to acclimatise and he\u2019s ready to run now.\u00a0<\/p>\n

  I\u2019m hopeful of a decent show under a 7lbs penalty for his French success.<\/p>\n

  <\/p>\n

  Paul Nicholls shares his views on his seven runners at Cheltenham and Hereford on Saturday<\/p>\n

  14:40 – Mofasa<\/h2>\n

  New to us this season he seems progressive and won tidily last time at Huntingdon early in November on his second start for us.\u00a0<\/p>\n

  He is a good looking type who has been successful at Cheltenham before and I\u2019m looking for another decent run from him off a 5lbs higher mark in a competitive novice handicap.<\/p>\n

  13:50 – Il Ridoto<\/h2>\n

  A regular in these valuable big handicaps at Cheltenham, he got his reward in the Premier Handicap on Trials day in January.\u00a0<\/p>\n

  He is consistent and always runs well but the task is a bit harder now running off a 5lbs higher mark.\u00a0<\/p>\n

  Il Ridoto again ran a solid race in finishing third behind Stage Star in the Paddy Power Gold Cup last month.\u00a0<\/p>\n

  He might improve plenty from that first run of the season but will need to if he is to win this.<\/p>\n

  <\/p>\n

  Harry Cobden will ride Monmiral at 13.50 in the December Gold Cup and Il Ridoto will also run<\/p>\n

  13:50 – Monmiral<\/h2>\n

  He\u2019s a Grade 1 winner over hurdles and ran very well over fences last season against some top horses like Jonbon and The Real Whacker.\u00a0<\/p>\n

  But he probably wasn\u2019t quite right last winter, so we gave him a wind op in the summer because we felt he was struggling with his breathing.\u00a0<\/p>\n

  His homework this autumn has been really good and he also pleased us in a recent away day.\u00a0<\/p>\n

  I\u2019m going down the handicap route and targeting this race because he is a class horse on an attractive mark of 145.\u00a0<\/p>\n

  Harry Cobden was keen to ride Monmiral after partnering him in a piece of work.<\/p>\n

  14:25 – Threeunderthrufive<\/h2>\n

  He is a strong stayer, and ran a cracker on his return in the Badger Beer at Wincanton when he was up with the pace the whole way before finishing second to Blackjack Magic.\u00a0<\/p>\n

  He was conceding over a stone to the winner and was the only one to give him a race in the closing stages.\u00a0<\/p>\n

  That was his first run since a wind op and I\u2019d say he has come on for the outing.\u00a0<\/p>\n

  He has won at Cheltenham before and on his best form he has a fair chance.<\/p>\n

  <\/p>\n

  On his best form, Threeunderthrufive has a fair chance and ran well\u00a0on his return in the Badger Beer at Wincanton<\/p>\n

  Hereford<\/h2>\n

  13:35 – Lime Avenue<\/h2>\n

  She is a well related sister to three winners and is running at Hereford because she wants good ground.\u00a0<\/p>\n

  She just needed the run on her return to action a month ago at Wincanton where she got tired in the closing stages in the testing conditions.\u00a0<\/p>\n

  She has improved since then and should be more competitive now on her second start since a wind op.<\/p>\n

  14:13 – Beau Balko<\/h2>\n

  He is another who doesn\u2019t want it too soft and had a rewarding first season over hurdles.\u00a0<\/p>\n

  The plan was always to go chasing with him this autumn.\u00a0<\/p>\n

  I thought he did well to finish second to Tritonic last time at Wincanton when he was a bit too keen from the start before tiring late on.\u00a0<\/p>\n

  We will try to ride him with more restraint at Hereford.<\/p>\n

  Best chance: Monmiral, 13:50 Cheltenham.<\/span>\u00a0<\/p>\n

  It\u2019s a close call between my duo in the December Gold Cup. I just favour Monmiral, who is a class horse.<\/p>\n

  Source: Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  Paul Nicholls on his seven hopes at Cheltenham and Hereford – including Monmiral and Il Ridoto Paul Nicholls gives his […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":300664,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n