Paul Nicholls has only brought seven horses to Leicester over the past five seasons but now four of them have won for him. STAVORDALE LAD stood out beforehand as the one to beat and did not have to run to anywhere near his rating of 110 to get off the mark in this moderate heat. The blinkers were left off this time but once again he failed to impress with his jumping, and he looks one to keep taking on if returned to handicap company.

Irish point-to-point winner Joe McHugh was having his second start over fences under Rules following three outings over hurdles in the autumn. He was pulled up on his chasing debut but this was far more encouraging. He briefly threatened to make a race of it with the winner leaving the back straight, and were he able to race in a handicap off his current mark of 67 in the near future he would not be without a chance. The vet later reported that Joe McHugh bled from the nose.

Luckycharm was the most experienced chaser in the line-up but he's exposed as plating-class.

Diamond Merchant has an official mark of 105 as a result of hisexploits over hurdles but nothing he has done over fences so far suggests he can run to that sort of rating.

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