Upbeat report on Master Minded

Paul Nicholls has issued an upbeat bulletin on Master Minded as he continues his recovery from a stress fracture to a rib.

The six-year-old gelding was found to have the problem after finishing behind Well Chief and Mahogany Blaze in the Connaught Chase at Cheltenham on November 15.

Nicholls said: "We started riding him Monday morning and he was in good form. We've plenty of time to get him right and although we can never be confident he'll get there we can be hopeful.

"If he's there on the day it means we've had a good run and he'll be in the form of his life. He'll either go there in that sort of shape or not at all."