Chris may bid to bounce back at Ascot Arkle winner Captain Chris could bid to atone for a mishap on his seasonal appearance by running in the Amlin 1965 Chase at Ascot on Saturday. The Philip Hobbs-trained seven-year-old looked poised to win the Haldon Gold Cup at Exeter when he took off too early at the final fence, giving Richard Johnson no chance of staying in the saddle. His performance would have been all the more meritorious as he was giving away weight to all of his rivals. The chief beneficiary was Alan King's Medermit, a smart novice last season who could again tackle Captain Chris. King intends to run Medermit, although he admits his stable star may have to improve again from his Haldon Gold Cup win. "It's the plan to run this weekend. Peter Hatton, who rides him in his work, was thrilled over the weekend and he'll probably do another little bit later this week," said King. "Mine have all improved a bit for the run this season but he might have to." When asked where he thought Medermit's future lay later in the season, King added: "We'll duck and dive and just see how much prize-money we can pick up - it's a nice problem to have." Paul Nicholls will be looking for an awful lot more from Master Minded after his lacklustre run at Aintree first time out. He had won on Merseyside in April, giving rise to the impression he was right back to his best, but had no answer to two rivals in last month's Old Roan Chase. Henrietta Knight has started the season in good form and Somersby looked very good when winning at Kempton on his first start of the campaign. Knight has stated a wish to step her charge up in trip beyond two miles and now gets the chance. David Pipe has entered Dan Breen and I'msingingtheblues, while Ferdy Murphy's Kalahari King could travel down from the north. Lancetto, Stagecoach Pearl, Kinkeel and The Sawyer complete the 11 possibles.
