Niche Market's Newbury warm-up for Aintree delights Paul Nicholls

Grand National contenders are expected to have something of the plodder about them, so it may be no terrible reflection on their Aintree prospects if they suffer defeat in other races requiring anything resembling a turn of foot. There are several trainers hoping for a better outcome next month than they achieved on Saturday, when a number of horses being aimed at the famous race were beaten in their final prep-runs, but Big Fella Thanks was sufficiently impressive to have his odds cut, while the more fancied Ballabriggs and Niche Market disappointed their followers. Big Fella Thanks travelled well through the Greatwood Gold Cup here before seeming to be outpaced after the last, finishing fourth, just over two lengths behind the winner, Fine Parchment. Graham Lee, rider of Big Fella Thanks, said: "He jumped really well and that run will leave him exactly where you'd want him to be." This was certainly the nine-year-old's best form of the season but he won the same race last year on his way to finishing a distant fourth in the National. There remains a suspicion that, while he is comfortable over the two and a half miles here, Big Fella Thanks's stamina does not quite stretch to the National's four and a half. Still, he was shortened to 14-1 for this year's race by totesport, having been 20-1. Now with Ferdy Murphy, the horse was trained until the summer by Paul Nicholls, represented in the Greatwood by Niche Market. This 10-year-old trailed Big Fella Thanks by 10 lengths in eighth place, but the trainer insisted he was the more likely of the two to taste success on 9 April. "I'm delighted with that because there was no chance of winning," Nicholls said. "If I'd done the obvious thing, I'd have gone three and a quarter miles with him. He's never been under three miles in his life, but Ruby [Walsh] is dead keen to run these horses over two and a half. "Ruby said he was an awesome jumper, his jumping kept him in it and obviously he stayed on. He ran exactly how I was expecting, I wasn't expecting any more than that at all. OK, he's had a breathing operation but I cannot get him any faster." "Big Fella Thanks is a totally different horse who's got loads of speed who actually doesn't stay. This [Niche Market] is an Irish National winner and that was perfect, absolutely thrilled to bits." Nicholls said the thinking behind running a stayer over such a short trip was to "wake his ideas up". "He's slow as slow, a real out-and-out stayer and today was always going to have him out of his comfort zone, but I wanted [Walsh] to bounce him out in front and make him have a race. He turned into the straight and you think he might be tailed-off but he stayed on." Niche Market is a general 16-1 shot for the National, two points bigger than Ballabriggs, who may find few backers at those odds after suffering a surprise defeat at Kelso. Trained by Donald McCain, he had been unbeaten in five outings, but was outpaced by Skippers Brig on the run-in. "He was odds-on, but that's the bookies, not me," McCain said. "This was a prep for the National and he travelled and jumped great. It turned into a bit of a sprint and he's not a sprinter. Jason [Maguire, his jockey] was delighted with him. He'll have a gallop somewhere along the line and, with a clear round, he will run a hell of a race." Nicky Richards said Skippers Brig could run in the Stewart Family Spinal Research Chase at the Cheltenham Festival if there was sufficient give in the ground. The horse has such a low weight that he is not guaranteed a place in the National line-up, but the trainer expressed himself keen to tackle the race if he got in. "Brian [Harding, the jockey] is confident he would enjoy it at Aintree," Richards said. "He's a big, scopey horse and there's no reason why he wouldn't go and have a pop at it." Just days after the controversy over Maguire's six-day ban for marking a horse, Jamie Moore earned himself an eight-day ban for a similar offence. Following his driving win on Tobago Bay here, he was banned for seven days for marking the horse and a further day for excessive use of the whip. The suspension will start the day after the Cheltenham Festival.