“he did not win a Champion Chase. Got run off his feet and pulled up.”
He had a bone problem didn’t he? And didn’t race again that season. Not saying he wasn’t better over 2.5 than 2, but it wasn’t getting outpaced that made him PU.
“Nicky wasted the horse.”
I dunno. He was unbeaten in 8 chase starts going into that QMCC and started at odds on as he had in all his other chase starts. When he was PU, they found the bone problem and gave him time off. When he ran badly (for him) on reappearance in the Tingle Creek they immediately moved him up to the Ascot chase, Ryanair, Bowl within one season. He didn’t hang around getting beaten repeatedly over 2 miles.