Days like these were once almost a weekly experience for Paul Nicholls, as he strung together one title-winning season after another, so the 14-time champion will have taken particular pleasure from his double on Monday as No Drama This End, in the Grade One Challow Hurdle, and Minella Yoga both emerged as contenders for the Cheltenham festival in March.
The Challow has often been an early proving ground for future stars over fences, and No Drama This End, Nicholls’s seventh winner of the race, joined former champions from the yard including Denman, the 2008 Gold Cup winner, and Bravemansgame, the 2022 King George VI Chase winner, on the roll of honour. Sent off at 4-9, the five-year-old made all the running under Harry Cobden and needed little encouragement to maintain a one-and-a-quarter length lead to the line.
