Paul Nicholls is confident he has Brave Knight "spot on" ahead of his jumps return at Market Rasen in the Unibet Same Race Multi Summer Handicap Hurdle.
The son of Sir Percy will make his first start over hurdles since finishing fourth at Cheltenham in October at the Lincolnshire track on Saturday.
However, while this will be the five-year-old’s first start over hurdles in more than eight months, he has been kept busy on the Flat in recent weeks.
After finishing sixth at Chester last month, on his first start since undergoing a wind operation at the end of last year, the former Sir Mark Prescott-trained gelding went one place better at Ascot last Saturday. And with those two runs under his belt Nicholls believes Brave Knight holds solid claims of securing a fourth win over hurdles in the extended two mile contest.
Nicholls said: “He hasn’t been seen over hurdles since running at Cheltenham in October, but I had this race in the back of my mind for him as long as there was a bit of rain about, which there has been.
“He had a wind operation after his run at Cheltenham. He was always going to come back and run through the summer, but we haven’t been jumping yet because of the ground. He wants good ground, but he wants safe ground.
“He was entered in a couple of races at Newton Abbot, but the ground was very quick so we gave him a couple of runs on the flat instead.
“Whether he is well-handicapped off one hundred and twenty seven I don’t know, but he did win three races really nicely last year, however they were uncompetitive novice hurdles, which they often are at that time of year.
“He ran okay at Ascot last Saturday, but he probably wants two miles on the flat now, but that will have put him spot on for this, and as long as the ground is okay, he should have a nice chance on Saturday.”
Should Brave Knight hit the target at the weekend it will keep up the good run Nicholls has enjoyed with his summer team, which is currently operating at a 45 percent strike rate.
He added: “I always wanted to have a dozen to fifteen winners by October 1st. We have had fifteen now and if we end up with twenty by that time it would be perfect. It gives us a nice little base for us to start the season from, but my season always starts in the middle of October.
“I thought if it all worked out for Brave Knight, and we could get a couple of runs into him, then we would have a go at this race, and that is what we are doing. We have had a good summer so let’s hope we can keep it up.”
It has been a busy week for Nicholls and his team at Manor Farm Stables with many of his winter aces returning from their summer break, while a few stable stars are set to make their return to Ditcheat next week.
Nicholls added: “We have been getting the winter horses in over the last fortnight. Kalif Du Berlais and Caldwell Potter aren’t yet in, but they are coming back in on Tuesday.
“Regent’s Stroll and Pic D’Orhy were ridden yesterday. We are gathering them up as normal at this time of year.
“We had a few that missed last year, like Knappers Hill, that came in earlier on July 1st. He seems fine at the moment, but he has had a nice bit of time off. By Friday we will have about one hundred in then we will build them quietly, which is like we normally do.”
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