Nickle 2nd in another graded race

We were thrilled when Nickle Back underlined his quality by finishing second in the 2 mile Graded Wayward Lad Novice Steeplechase at Kempton on 27 December, four weeks after his impressive second in the Graded John Francome Novice Steeplechase at Newbury. Nickle’s race  was the fastest race of the day at Kempton, even faster than the more valuable Desert Orchid chase run over the same trip and faster than the 0-140 hurdle race which was also over 2 miles.

We had decided to run Nickle over 2 miles at Kempton rather than over 2 miles 4 furlongs, the distance of his three chases to date (including the race at Newbury) as an experiment. I was concerned that the shorter trip might make it  more likely that he would find himself running against others with a similar speed and style of running and so it turned out at Kempton. Nickle is capable of staying at least 2 1/2 miles and it was notable that the other front runner at Kempton was unable to keep up the gallop over the final half-mile and faded into last, whereas Nickle was able to continue and was only beaten by some 4 lengths. I might well consider putting him back up to 2 1/2 miles again for his next outing.

He is a very exciting horse and we can’t wait for his next outing!