First Lieutenant 'showing a bit of sparkle' Mouse Morris is optimistic of a bold performance from First Lieutenant in the Hennessy Gold Cup at Newbury on Saturday. The 10-year-old doesn't appear to be the force that took third behind Bobs Worth in this race three years ago, but there was encouragement to take from his comeback effort in the Clonmel Oil Chase. His trainer said: "He is grand after his run in Clonmel and there is not a bother on him. "We left the headgear off there because he was just starting back and I thought it was a very good run. "He is showing me a bit of sparkle and I feel there is still a good bit of ability there if I can get him back." Paul Nicholls believes Hennessy favourite Saphir Du Rheu can defy the burden of top weight. After a couple of early mishaps in his novice season over fences, the grey went back hurdling and it clearly did his confidence the power of good as he finished second in the Ladbrokes World Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival in March. Saphir Du Rheu easily won an Aintree Grade One on his return to chasing a month later, and also enjoyed an impressive return to action at Carlisle on November 1. The six-year-old was challenging Coneygree for Hennessy favouritism before trainer Mark Bradstock was forced to withdraw the Gold Cup winner, with Nicholls' inmate now the outright market leader. Nicholls said: "He schooled over a dozen fences with Sam Twiston-Davies on Thursday morning and he worked Wednesday with his half-brother, Ibis Du Rheu. "He looks fantastic and we are very happy with him. He has got a lot to do off the weight, but he is a big, strong horse and well capable of winning off top weight. "If he is going to be smart over fences he will have to run well off that weight. "On his World Hurdle form, he deserves to carry that weight and there are not too many in that field that will have been placed in a World Hurdle. "He is a second-season novice and he will have to jump at his very best."
