Saturday 11 November 2017

Rising Stars: Nicholls seeking tenth victory with 'top class' Modus

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Modus is seeking to follow in the footsteps of Paul Nicholls' See More Business and Silviniaco Conti by giving the master of Ditcheat a tenth victory in the Rising Stars Novice Chase.

Nicholls, who is seeking a tenth victory in the race, won this contest with Frodon last year, who went on to become the first four-year-old to win Cheltenham's December Gold Cup.

Lanzerote winner Modus was rated 156 as a hurdler, but always regarded as a better horse over a fence.

He made a perfect start to chasing when winning at Bangor by five lengths, and can follow it up with another victory here.

"He's one to follow this season and made a winning debut over fences eleven days ago against two opponents," Nicholls told his Betfair blog.

"I've always thought Modus would be an exciting recruit to chasing and with any luck he has a big season ahead of him.

"Having won the Lanzarote Hurdle and finished second in the Greatwood we know he has the class and his schooling has always encouraged us to think he will do even better as a chaser. 

"Modus had a nice pop over our fences this morning and this race looks an ideal next step for him to gain more experience."

The seven-year-old takes on only two rivals here today, with his principal challenger coming in the form of Kalondra for Neil Mulholland.

The former 149 rated hurdler also won on his debut over fences, the six-year-old won by two-and-a-half lengths at Sedgefield.

Colin Tizzard's Valhalla also takes his place.

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