Nolan realistic on Logic and Prince Trainer Paul Nolan is making no excuses for Defy Logic following his odds-on reverse at Punchestown on Sunday. Having shown smart form over hurdles last season, the JP McManus-owned six-year-old made a sparkling debut over fences at Naas at the end of last month. He was a hot favourite to strike again in the Grade Two Craddockstown Novice Chase, but had to make do with the runner-up spot behind Felix Yonger, one of seven winners on the day for champion trainer Willie Mullins. Nolan said: "He ran well, but we are a bit disappointed. There are no excuses, he was just beaten by a better horse on the day. Hopefully there'll be another day for our horse. "I haven't spoken to Frank (Berry, McManus' racing manager) about it yet, but I would imagine he'll go to Leopardstown at Christmas." Ten days earlier, Nolan's Cheltenham Festival winning-chaser Noble Prince snapped a long losing run in the John Meagher Memorial Chase at Thurles. However, the trainer is not getting carried away by the nine-year-old's return to form. "We were delighted he won, but I wouldn't read too much into it," said Nolan. "You can pick holes in the form and he's gone up 9lb to 154 now, so it's not going to be easy for him. "We want to run him on as good a ground as possible and we could run him in a conditions hurdle in the next couple of weeks. "He's not going to get back to his best form and I think we'll just try to stick to Grade Three and Two races with him, as he's not a Grade One horse."
