Minded just prevails at Ascot Master Minded just held on in a dramatic finish to the Victor Chandler Chase at Ascot. The former Champion Chaser looked set for a cosy victory, under Tony McCoy, when kicking for home entering the straight in the Grade One contest. But Somersby battled his way into contention going to the last and finished strongly on the run-in to push the 4/7 favourite hard in the closing stages He eventually just failed by a short-head to shock the Paul Nicholls-trained star. Sky Bet reacted by pushing Master Minded out to 9-4 for the sportingbet.com Queen Mother Champion Chase at Cheltenham while Somersby was cut to 10-1 for the two-mile championship and to 6s from 8s for the Ryanair Chase. "I'm relieved. I was disappointed initially because turning in I thought he was going to go away and win quite nice and then I was thinking something obviously isn't quite right (with the way the horses are running)," said Nicholls. "I just said that to AP but he wasn't having any of that, he just said he gave him a bad ride - his words not mine. "He said they went a good gallop and he was travelling powerfully and let him roll on too soon which meant he got tired in the ground. "The runner-up is a good horse and we are probably not in the best of form. In the spring it will be totally different. "AP is kicking himself because he said if he'd got beat he wouldn't have forgiven himself. "They can't always run to their very best, we saw that last week, and I've got to get him back to his very best. "He travels brilliantly and jumps well. Don't forget he's had a breathing operation in the summer and no horse with a breathing issue wants this ground. "Come the spring, with the horses in better form, he'll be there again. "It's nice to have a winner. I've been under a bit of pressure this week with one thing or another as some haven't run as well as they can so it's nice to have a winner." McCoy said: "He did well to win, they went a real good gallop early on and at Swinley Bottom he came back on the bridle and I let him run when I shouldn't have done - I should have sat and let him fill up more. "But he's a very good horse, he got a bit tried on the ground and he probably idled a bit." Knight said of the runner-up: "We've done a lot of work on his jumping and he's not been the easiest to train because he jumps with his head in the air a bit. "He was fluent today, but it's hard because he has a very sensitive mouth so we have to use a mild bit on him. "Master Minded is a super horse and to get so close to him is quite an achievement. "It hasn't made the decision which race we run him in at the Festival any easier at all really. "He obviously stays well and the hill at Cheltenham will be even more in his favour, but he does love soft ground and you are not guaranteed to get that in March. "We have two options and we have decisions to make (Ryanair or Queen Mother)."
