Finian left to cruise home Finian's Rainbow survived an early scare to land the Zenergi Novices' Chase at Newbury. Nicky Henderson's gelding was sent to the front from the fall of the flag however he made a bad mistake at the first fence on the far side. He was pestered by Tail Of The Bank for half a mile after but soon brushed him aside with some fluent leaps and the 2-13 favourite, ridden by Barry Geraghty, was able to record a facile success after that rival fell. Henderson said: "He was very good, and he only dived at one on the back - he was still a bit fresh. "He needs another run (before Cheltenham) and the obvious races are the Kingmaker at Warwick or the Pendil at Kempton. "He's an out-and-out two-miler and the plan is definitely the Arkle." Geraghty said: "He jumped well most of the way. "He guessed a little bit at the first fence down the back but it's been a while since he ran and he's probably become a little bit careless. "The experience will be good for him and he's better off getting a couple of little scares than having a nice time as if he was at home and maybe learning nothing at all. "He'd go in any ground and he's uncomplicated. "So far, so good, and I think he'll have another run before the Arkle." Tail Of The Bank was in the process of running a good race on his chasing debut but took a heavy fall three fences from home. Babysitter, the sole other runner, finished in his own time for second. Finian's Rainbow was a leading novice hurdler last season when he finished fifth, behind Peddlers Cross, in the Neptune Novice Hurdle at Cheltenham.
