Cheltenham Festival News: Brown Advisory a Bravemansgame for Paul Nicholls
- Planet Sport writer
- 4 March 2022
Bravemansgame looks the strongman to lead Paul Nicholls' select raiding party on the Cheltenham Festival 2022. The seven-year-old is well fancied for the Brown Advisory Novices' Chase on March 16.
Bravemansgame looks to be Paul Nicholls' leading chance of success at Cheltenham with the seven-year-old around the top of the market for the Brown Advisory Novices' Chase on March 16.
The French import drew comparisons with the great Denman after nailing the 2020 Challow Novices' Hurdle, which is high praise indeed.
Much like the 2008 Gold Cup hero Denman, Bravemansgame had to make do with place honours on his first visit to the Festival in last year's Ballymore Novices' Hurdle, finishing third behind the impressive Bob Olinger.
"When I first compared him to Denman, he'd just won the Challow, as Denman had," Nicholls said during a press morning at his yard on Thursday.
"He's rated higher now than Denman was after he won the Brown Advisory. There's a lot of similarities in terms of what they've done, but you can't compare generations really.
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"He can only beaten what's put in front of him. It doesn't mean that one is better than the other, but he's certainly gone the right way anyway.
"Denman probably never had as much boot as this horse. He was an out-and-out galloper and stayer, whereas this horse has plenty of speed. For a big horse in our school he is electric.
"He's just a lovely horse who has that class. We don't need to make comparisons with anything else, we'll see what the future brings."
Bravemansgame has barely put a hoof wrong in his four starts over fences to date, most recently giving away weight in a handicap at Newbury.
His potential rivals at Cheltenham include Lucinda Russell's Ahoy Senor, whom he readily swept aside at Kempton over Christmas, and the Willie Mullins-trained Galopin Des Champs.
Mullins has suggested he is favouring the shorter Turners' Novices' Chase in the Cotswolds, however.
