'That blew me away - we'll have to look at Cheltenham now' - Paul Nicholls considers Champion Bumper for impressive winner
Paul Nicholls was blown away by the debut of No Drama This End and will consider the Champion Bumper after his three-and-a-half-length victory in the finale.
Paddy Power introduced him at 25-1 for his potential Cheltenham Festival target after he quickened clear of the well-fancied Keops Des Bordes in the 2m bumper.
The Nicholls-trained Shearer went on to Cheltenham after winning this race for Max McNeill in 2020, and the owner is also involved with No Drama This End, along with Chris and Giles Barber. The horse carries the silks of their late father Paul, who owned Gold Cup winners Denman and See More Business.
Nicholls said: "It would've been Paul Barber's 82nd birthday, so for the horse to win in those colours for Chris and Giles, as well as Max McNeill, is fantastic. He'd have been Paul's type of horse, as he's a big, strong chasing type.
"I've known about him for a long time and we bought him off Will [Biddick] after he won his point-to-point. He did do a very nice racecourse gallop a few weeks ago and we thought he'd run well, but that blew us away. We like him and he'll have a tentative entry for the Cheltenham bumper.
"If it was soft, we'd possibly consider it. Whether it's there or at Aintree, or somewhere else, he'll have one more run this season then go hurdling in the autumn."
Weekend pointer
Top conditional Freddie Gingell will ride ante-post favourite Copperhead in the Veterans' Final at Sandown this weekend and geared up for that when winning on Special Acceptance.
The Billy Aprahamian-trained 11-year-old held off Supervisor to register just his second victory in the 3m veterans' handicap chase.
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