Nicholls upbeat on Denman Cheltenham Gold Cup winner Denman continues to please Paul Nicholls as he recovers from treatment to remedy an irregular heartbeat. The eight-year-old, unbeaten in nine races over fences, has not been seen in public since his demolition of stablemate Kauto Star in the blue riband event in March. Since the problem was spotted in September, Nicholls has always had the Aon Chase at Newbury on February 7 as his likely starting point. However part-owner Paul Barber had mentioned a possible tilt at the Peter Marsh at Haydock in January. That now seems unlikely, although a spin over hurdles has emerged as a possibility. 'He's just not quite ready and there wasn't an obvious race for him yet. He wouldn't have been ready for the Lexus but he's working along nicely and I'm very, very happy with him,' Nicholls told Attheraces. 'There's just nothing for him so I've still got in my mind the Aon as a target and whether we run before that I don't know. I've even suggested to Paul Barber giving him a run over hurdles to sharpen him up a bit before the Aon. But in all probability his first run will be the Aon.' 'Without a doubt he is showing me at home that he retains all his old ability. I've got no doubt whatsoever and if we didn't know he'd had a problem we wouldn't even be questioning it. But he has to do it on the track otherwise there'll always be a doubt in people's mind,' added Nicholls. Despite his absence, Denman remains the 11-8 favourite with sponsors totesport for the Gold Cup in March.
