Arkle hope Bay turned over at Doncaster

Leading Arkle Chase hope Tidal Bay suffered a reverse at Doncaster on Saturday when a mistake at the last cost him dearly.

Howard Johnson?s charge had earlier survived a blunder at the sixth last in the novice chase and was again lucky to stand up when handing Leslingtaylor the lead at the final fence.

Ruby Walsh conjured another run from the 1-4 hotpot on the run-in but he couldn?t peg back his rival, going down by a neck.

The winner will now head for the Arkle and his trainer John Quinn said: "He´ll come on for the run. He was a bit hesitant early on in his jumping but he did it well enough.

?He warmed to it well and stayed on well when the favourite came back at him. The next stop will be the Arkle."

Tidal Bay´s connections have now to decide whether to sidestep the Arkle Trophy and go instead for the three-mile Royal & SunAlliance Chase at the Festival.

Owner Graham Wylie said: "Those two mistakes cost him the race.

"Ruby said he´s got a terrific engine because he should have been beaten by more than a neck.

"I´ll chat to Howard and see what he thinks. I´m not the one to make the decision about what race at Cheltenham, I´ll leave that to Howard."

Leslingtaylor was cut to 14-1 from 20s for the Arkle with Hills, while Tidal Bay eased to 13-2 from 5s.