Small yard 'not scared' of powerhouse trainers as 'quirky' Nickle Back hunts Grade 2 success at Newbury

Trainer Sarah Humphrey is not shirking the challenge of taking on a couple of Britain's powerhouse yards with Nickle Back in the Grade 2 Coral John Francome Novices' Chase at Newbury on Friday and believes her runner holds every chance of coming out on top.

Nickle Back will face Grade 1-winning novice hurdler Hermes Allen, who makes his chasing debut for 14-time champion trainer Paul Nicholls, and Nicky Henderson's Martin Pipe Handicap Hurdle runner-up No Ordinary Joe among five rivals in the 2m4f contest.

The lightly raced seven-year-old is quickly upped in grade having swept all before him in his two chase starts, winning handicaps at Warwick and Stratford by a combined 43 lengths, and Humphrey is looking forward to taking on the big yards on Friday.

"We're a very small yard and to have very good horse is exciting for us, and to run in this race is a big deal," said Humphrey, who has 16 horses in training at West Wratting in Cambridgeshire. "If I didn't think we were going with a live chance I just wouldn't because it would make me look stupid!

"You can't be scared of one or two horses and you can't be scared of one or two trainers, and he certainly deserves to be there. We're really excited, his preparation has gone well and there's no negatives really as long as the day doesn't get to him. We'll get permission to go down early, so he can go down quietly on his own, and we'll take our chance."

Nickle Back won a novice hurdle by 30 lengths at Fontwell in October 2021 before injury meant he wasn't seen for 406 days, when a rowdy Cheltenham crowd "really upset him" on his reappearance last season.

Humphrey, who has always held him in high regard, added: "He's very quirky and has his own way of doing things. He hasn't had major problems, but he has a self-destruct button that he uses and he does have accidents.

"During his novice hurdle year we were trying to go to the Ballymore, but that just never happened. Last year at Cheltenham on the walk out to the course, with people throwing pints about and banging beer cans on the rails, it completely blew his mind. He got so worked up and it took us several runs to get him back – it really, really upset him.

"He's always been a big, chaser-type. We had the idea of going chasing this autumn and he was impressive at Warwick, but even more so at Stratford as that was a really good race there. He really didn't enjoy the ground that day but his class saw him through."

On targets later in the season, Humphrey added: "We won't be going to Cheltenham, not after last year. If we get a clear run towards March and April time, we'll choose one of the alternatives and hopefully miss the slightly better horses as well."

Nickle Back's other potential opponents Marble Sands and Tightenourbelts made a winning transition to chasing last time, while Colonel Mustard, who placed in the Grade 1 Paddy Power Champion Hurdle at Punchestown in April, arrives off the back of a second on his debut over fences at Down Royal this month.

Coral: 11-8 Hermes Allen, 3 Nickle Back, 6 Marble Sands, 13-2 Colonel Mustard, 8 No Ordinary Joe, 10 Tightenourbelts

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