Nicholls looks to Conti for seventh Betfair Paul Nicholls looks to Silviniaco Conti as he tries to extend his fruitful association with the Betfair Chase at Haydock. While it may not hold the same historical ties as the King George VI Chase and the Cheltenham Gold Cup, the three-mile showpiece usually attracts some of the best staying chasers in the country and is one the Ditcheat handler has dominated. Since its inception in 2005, Nicholls has pocketed the Grade One contest a remarkable six times - with Kauto Star providing four of those victories. The dual Gold Cup winner's final victory back in 2011 at the age of 11 provides particularly happy memories for Nicholls. He said: "That was a big day for everybody. It was an incredible day with people cheering him before, during and after the race. It was just amazing. "The year after he was out there parading and Silviniaco Conti was winning his first one, so it has been a good race for us." Nicholls' chances of extending his enviable record this year look more than favourable as defending champion Silviniaco Conti heads the ante-post market. Although he has some way to go to equal the exploits of his former stablemate, the nine-year-old bids to move a step closer to matching the efforts of the 16-times Grade One winner by taking the £200,000 contest for a third time. After finishing a staying-on second in his prep run over hurdles at Kempton earlier this month, Nicholls is optimistic he has the dual King George winner cherry-ripe for the weekend. He said: "He ran very well the other day at Kempton in light of the situation we were in. We had a whole heap of trouble with them (sarcoids, a common type of skin tumour affecting horses) last year. "Having a girth on him caused trouble and we nearly did not run him in the King George because of a reaction on his chest four days before the race. It is technical - not big stuff - and we treated three sarcoids when he came back in July. "When he came back in July, we treated those sarcoids, but although the two on the front of his chest had died off, the one underneath his front leg has come back again so it's been a pain. "He wasn't as far forward as I wanted to run in a Charlie Hall or anything like that, hence the run over hurdles. He has improved enormously for that run. "He has not missed a beat since Kempton and his stamina will be very important this weekend. "He is not a morning glory worker at home so you would never know if he was going particularly well. "We get loads of graft into him to get him fit - Noel (Fehily) got off at Kempton and said he felt as well as ever, which is all I wanted to hear. "The flat track on soft ground is made for him. He is in really good shape and that run will have done him the world of good. "Really testing ground is probably ideal for him as all he does is gallop and jump."
