Ridoto out on his own at Newbury

THIS four-year-old allowance for chasers is one golden ticket to print money. The Paul Nicholls-trained Il Ridoto never came off the bridle in the finale at Newbury on Saturday and this was meant to be a competitive handicap on the track’s biggest card of the season.

It doesn’t half make you wonder whether experience is overrated when it comes to assessing novice chases. All this practice makes perfect lark is rubbish when horses can jump or they can’t. Bar one late blemish, Il Ridoto looked as though he’d been doing it all his life and Newbury provides a proper test of jumping.