Nicholls ready to learn from Cheltenham

Nicholls wants to add to 3000 wins

Trainer Paul Nicholls claims he and his team have learned their lessons from Cheltenham as they prepare to run Politologue in the JLT Chase.

The eight-year-old is the second favourite in the ante-post betting ahead of Friday’s race at Aintree. He will bid to become the sixth dual winner of the race, trying to follow in the footsteps of Viking Flagship, Direct Route, Native Upmanship, Moscow Flyer and Voy Por Ustedes.

Politologue beat Min in the race 12 months ago and the duo will compete again, while Waiting Patiently remains the favourite. Nicholls insists his team went with a cautious approach at Cheltenham last month and they believe it will benefit him once again.

He told reporters: He ran incredibly well in the Queen Mother – I would say it was a career-best. ‘Two and a half miles on a flat track suits him well, so we are looking forward to seeing if he can win the race for the second year running.

‘We just changed tactics with him a little bit at Cheltenham. We took our time and told Harry (Cobden) to save him for one go.

‘We rode him very positively in the Champion Chase last season, and he was in front from the back of third-last into the straight, so this time we stalked and stalked and had one go at Altior – and it worked very well. ‘We probably learnt that day we don’t need to ride him so aggressively.’

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