Nicol on Musselburgh weather watch for Minella Study

Minella Study will bid to cement his Triumph Hurdle credentials at Musselburgh on Saturday, provided underfoot conditions are deemed suitable.

Adam Nicol’s stable star is three from three over obstacles and the form of his latest success at Cheltenham in December looks strong, with the runner-up Winston Junior subsequently bolting up at Ascot and the third home One Horse Town finishing best of the rest behind another smart juvenile in Maestro Conti back at Cheltenham last weekend.

Minella Study is a hot favourite for the bet365 Scottish Triumph Hurdle and while Nicol is keen to let him take his chance, the Seahouses handler does not want to ruin his Cheltenham chances by running him in testing conditions.

“Everything seems all right, he seems in good nick,” he said.

“I don’t know what the ground is going to end up like. It’s a lovely day today but it was horrific yesterday, so we’ll just have to monitor the ground really.

“I don’t think any of them would want it really soft, especially with juveniles as you don’t want them to have a hard race before Cheltenham.

“A lot can happen in 24 hours with horses, but the plan is to run on Saturday and we’ll just see what happens.”

Should Minella Study sidestep his Saturday engagement, he could be rerouted to Haydock or head straight to the Cheltenham Festival, for which he is a 12-1 shot with Coral and Paddy Power.

Nicol added: “There’s limited options at this time of year. After this weekend, the only race in the north for him would be the Victor Ludorum at Haydock, but with the way the weather is going it could be heavy ground there and if you missed that then you’d probably just have to have a racecourse gallop, which isn’t the end of the world – Nicky Henderson does that a lot, doesn’t he?

“I think the handicapper has put him up another 1lb to 139 as his form has been boosted since he won at Cheltenham, so he’s got a hellish rating for a juvenile.

“I’m pretty realistic about it, it’s going to be very difficult to go there (Cheltenham Festival) and win, but if you look at his profile he hasn’t done a lot wrong up to date.”

On Saturday the trainer also plans to saddle Wise Eagle in the bet365 Scottish County Handicap Hurdle, while on Sunday recent Kelso scorer Speiriuil is set to be in action.

“We’re dropping Wise Eagle back to two miles because he just ran with the choke out over two and a half at Musselburgh last time,” said Nicol.

“He’s been dropped 2lb since, plus I think we’re going to have Josh Thompson riding him claiming 5lb, so he’ll be 7lb better off since his last run and I think two miles will suit him better to be honest.

“Speiriuil won at Kelso last time and will appreciate the step back up to two and a half. The horses are running well, our last two runners have won, so hopefully we get a bit of luck.”