MASTER MINDED ON MEND

MASTER MINDED'S hammering by Well Chief at Cheltenham's Paddy Power meet was the biggest shock of the season.

But trainer Paul Nicholls has revealed his two-mile ace had a stress fracture of the 10th rib.

How did that escape his attention I hear you ask? Very easily is the answer because a minor rib problem could pass undetected until the horse was put under pressure and those huge lungs started to blow like forge bellows.

Even up Nicholls' fearsome hill at home, his horses never come under that ultra-severe stress.

As Nicholls said: "It was obviously aggravating him at Cheltenham when he hung so badly right. There is no reason he won't make a full recovery and we will get him back for the Game Spirit at Newbury in February as a prep for the Champion Chase."

It will have come as a huge relief to Nicholls to have a concrete diagnosis as Master Minded looked dead out of sorts at Cheltenham. Now we know why.

Of course had Kauto Star not scrambled home by a nose from Imperial Commander at Haydock last week the knee- jerk knockers would have been out in force telling us all Nicholls was finished!

Every now and again you come across a rising handicapper who catches the imagination - and we have a case in point this season with my favourite youngster Lie Forrit.

He won at Cheltenham earlier in the month and positively hosed up at Newbury on Friday. As long ago as last April after he finished his novice season, I put him up for the 2010 Pertemps Handicap Hurdle Final at Cheltenham.

And having gone up 15lbs in the ratings for his first two runs this term he'll go up another 12lbs for this week's easy win.

Some pundits reckon he'll have to step up to the World Hurdle as he'll have too much weight in the Pertemps. If he were mine, he wouldn't run until then as he would dot up even with top weight. A rarity who loves it fast over an extreme trip, he quickly won a cult following. He was sent off a well- backed 11-4 favour- ite for his Cheltenham and Newbury wins and there is more to come from him.

Read Alastair Down every week in the Racing Post

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