Denman work to decide plan

Champion trainer Paul Nicholls will decide tomorrow whether Cheltenham Gold Cup winner Denman will make his seasonal reappearance as early as Boxing Day.

Nicholls had suggested that Denman wouldn't make his first appearance of the 2008-09 season until Newbury on 7 February, but the eight-year-old has been given an entry in a handicap hurdle at Wincanton on Friday, more than two months earlier than the original plan.

An irregular heartbeat has kept Denman off the track since his Gold Cup win in March but Nicholls said: "Denman is no more than an entry. He will do a decent piece of work on Tuesday morning and we'll make our minds up at declaration time."