Nicholls sweet on Calipto Paul Nicholls has drawn similarities between his 2012 winner of the Betfair Hurdle Zarkandar and his representative this year, Calipto, ahead of Saturday's renewal at Newbury. While Zarkandar had better form as a juvenile, winning the Triumph Hurdle and following up at Aintree, that meant he was competing off a handicap mark of 151. Calipto looked a very unlucky loser in last year's Triumph as he was hampered by fallers and then his tack broke rounding the turn for home, leaving him virtually unrideable. Second on his return to action this season, he has subsequently had a breathing operation and Nicholls thinks there is a room for manoeuvre off his current rating of 143. "He worked great on Thursday morning. It's a very competitive race as you'd expect, but we're happy with him," Nicholls told At The Races "We all say in racing 'if' is a big word (in reference to the Triumph Hurdle), but he ran a nice race in the circumstances and won twice at Newbury last year, so the track suits him. "Arguably, because he's been off for a while, he could be well handicapped, but we'll see. "He mirrors Zarkandar for me in many ways. He's coming back fresh, which helps, and he's definitely got a great chance." Nicky Henderson has won the valuable race more times than anyone else and saddles two this year in top-weight Sign Of A Victory and his stablemate Vasco Du Ronceray. He said: "Sign Of A Victory is a better horse on good ground but we are pretty keen on running him as there is nothing else before Cheltenham and what is he going to run in at Cheltenham? "He is still in the Champion Hurdle but we had funny issues, nothing to do with the horse, prior to Kempton and I cannot believe you saw him at his very best that day. He wasn't going to beat the winner Faugheen in a million years but he should have been second. "He just didn't get home after travelling well. I know it was soft but I think he can be a bit sharper than that. He is getting stronger and more able to cope with soft ground. "He would have to run an incredible race in the Betfair Hurdle to go for the Champion Hurdle. "The Betfair Hurdle is a great race with a great prize. Barry (Geraghty) was keen to come on to the Betfair after he rode Sign Of A Victory at Kempton. If there was really bad ground, that would be a worry. "Vasco Du Ronceray always looked like he would be all right but things did not just go his way last season and we had a few issues. "He was good first time out this season in November and then he went a bit quiet on us but for the last three weeks he has been in very good form. "He is sharp enough, will handle the ground and he would have a realistic chance." Dan Skelton won The Ladbroke last year and believes he has a chance of claiming another big prize with Fascino Rustico, a winner at Newcastle only recently. Skelton used to be Nicholls' assistant and Fascino Rustico was trained in his early days by the champion trainer. "When he was with Paul he fell twice when he would have won and John Hales (owner) always said he'd support us and kindly sent him to us. We're very lucky to have him and Paul has been very supportive and given us lots of information about the horse," said Skelton. "I think Newbury will suit him, it has a long straight and you have a long time to make your challenge. "He cost a lot of money because he's an impressive individual. "You'd say he has the size and scope for fences but he needs to brush his technique up first. "He's high up in the betting and I am sure there's a race of this ilk in him, if not Saturday then one day."
