Handicap mark tough for Denman say Nicholls Paul Nicholls believes Denman will struggle to win another handicap chase off his current mark of 182. The 10-year-old is a dual winner of the Hennessy Gold Cup, being successful in 2007 when rated 161 and again last season off 174. The Ditcheat trainer has not ruled out Denman attempting to be the first horse to win the Newbury feature a third time, but admits the Paul Barber-owned gelding would face a stiff task. Nicholls might consider the Betfair Chase at Haydock as an early season objective while other main targets are the Lexus Chase at Leopardstown over Christmas and another crack at the Cheltenham Gold Cup. Denman won the Lexus in 2007 and lifted the Gold Cup in 2008 as well as finishing second for the last two seasons. "I've got to discuss it in depth with Paul what we do with him," Nicholls told At The Races. "It would be nice to win a third Hennessy with him as no horse as ever done that before. He's on a different mark this year which will make life a lot harder. "He does like Newbury and obviously he does like going left-handed and it was a big error on my part to go to Punchestown with him. That won't happen again. "It was a shame because he is a hard horse to get right. When he ran in last year's Hennessy he was at the top of his game. He wasn't quite there when he fell at Newbury in February. I thought he would still have won that day but he was nowhere near his top. "He ran much better in the Gold Cup and probably the best he ever was when he ran at Punchestown, but it was totally the wrong way round so we never really got chance. He will never run right-handed again, ever. "He does love Newbury, but it is going to be incredibly hard to win a handicap off his mark now. "You've got to be a little bit careful and not over-face and give him too hard racing as he says no thank you. We have to manage it right. "There is the Betfair Chase. Haydock might suit him if there was cut in the ground. "The track that suits him really well is Leopardstown for the Lexus and then there's the Gold Cup at Cheltenham again. "I've got to sit down with Paul and make a plan of action where we will go. "He will have an entry for the Hennessy, but it doesn't necessarily mean he is definitely going to run."
