Angels Breath impresses but gives Henderson a scare as he finishes with cut leg

Angels Breath made it two from two over fences after putting in another rousing round of jumping to land the Grade 2 Jacquart Noel Novices' Chase, but the victory came at a cost as he returned with a cut to his leg.

The Nicky Henderson-trained five-year-old only had one rival to beat and showed his class by roaring clear of Mont Des Avaloirs from three out, with the gap between the two only getting bigger. He eventually won by 23 lengths.

However, the grey did not return to the winner's enclosure following the race with Henderson citing a cut as the reason.

He said: "I haven't brought him in because there is a cut on the back of his tendon on his off-fore leg, so they're going to go and clean it, wrap it up and take him home.

"He's done nothing wrong the whole way round and was superb. It's too cruel in the world if that's going to knock him out. He was just a bit untidy at one fence coming up the hill, that's probably where he did it. We'll have to see."

Angels Breath was cut to 10-1 (from 14) with Paddy Power to land the Racing Post Arkle at next year's Cheltenham Festival, while Betway have trimmed him to 8-1 (from 12) for the JLT Novices' Chase.

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