Paul Nicholls, the 14-times champion trainer, is set to unleash a whole host of exciting novices in the coming campaign to back up his established stars at Ditcheat.
Nicholls had to accept he was not going to secure a 15th trainers’ title last season when the irrepressible Willie Mullins swept through in the closing months of the season like a whirlwind and his former assistant Dan Skelton took the second spot, but rest assured it is a position that would not rest easily with the Ditcheat trainer.
Nicholls still notched up 132 winners and £2,886,462 in prize money and a strike-rate of 23 per cent still looks pretty tidy whichever way you look at it.
Across the board, Team Ditcheat appears to have great strength in depth but his novice chasing battalion appears frighteningly good, and with Captain Teague, expensive sales purchase Caldwell Potter, Rubaud, Isaac des Obeaux, Sonigino and Kalif du Berlais to go to war with it looks like he will be, once again, taking very high rank among the ‘Saturday horses’.
Regent’s Stroll could prove an exceptional novice hurdler with plenty of back-up from other bumper recruits, and all in all Nicholls has an astounding squad as he bids to regain the trainers’ title.
Charlie Davies, his assistant trainer, kindly spoke to Tony Elves of attheraces.com about the horses he hopes can prosper at the highest level this term.
BLUEKING D’OROUX
“He is very well and he ran really well last year considering he had that tricky year after being a juvenile. He won the Masterson Holdings at Cheltenham and the Grade Two Ascot Coral Hurdle. He ran well for a five-year-old when fifth in the Long Walk Hurdle at Ascot. I would imagine the plan would be training him towards the Long Walk. Where he starts we are not really sure yet, but he looks really well.”
BRAVEMANSGAME
“Bravemansgame looks great and we are really happy with him. I would imagine we would look at the Charlie Hall again – the race he has started in for the last two years. He had a slightly frustrating season but he still ran quite well at the beginning of the year. Now we are happy with him, hopefully we can turn it around and win a couple of big chases with him. He has been an amazing horse.”
Nicholls (left) and jockey Harry Cobden (centre left) celebrate winning the King George with Bravemansgame
CALDWELL POTTER
“He did brilliantly for Gordon Elliott and his team winning a Grade One in Ireland and he has shown he has a huge amount of ability. He had a little niggle at the end of the season and he didn’t manage to run for us but we managed to sort that. His work is great and he has schooled a couple of times and jumped brilliantly. Freddie Gingell, who rides him every day, is really, really pleased with him and I don’t know where he will start – he could start over two-and-a-half miles in a novice chase somewhere. I am really looking forward to seeing what he could do.”
CAPTAIN TEAGUE
“Captain Teague had a good year last year and won the Persian War first time out and then, frustratingly, got beaten at Cheltenham and then won the Challow Hurdle. He had won a Grade One but we couldn’t quite get him right after that and he disappointed at the Festival. It was frustrating but we could never get him quite right after the Challow. He had a great summer and his work is really great. I can’t wait to see him over fences. I am not sure where he will start and whether it will be over two-and-a-half miles or three but I think he is going to be a pretty awesome novice chaser.”
Captain Teague gets ahead of Lookaway in the Challow Novices’ Hurdle at Newbury
GINNY’S DESTINY
“He had a great way winning three novice handicap chases at Cheltenham and he went very close at the Festival itself where he came up against his old mate Grey Dawning and he beat us on the day. He would have gone to Newton Abbot last Saturday but it was waterlogged off and I imagine the plan would be to go straight for the Paddy Power Chase at Cheltenham in November.”
JACKPOT DES BORDES
“He is a lovely horse of Vision D’Etat who won a bumper at Hereford first time out despite being green and then finished second to a pretty smart horse at Wincanton. He has done plenty of schooling and could be a nice horse.”
JOYAU ALLEN
“He is a lovely horse and a full brother to Envoi Allen. He is probably the horse who did best over the summer – he was a big horse last year and has filled out and looks amazing. He has done plenty of schooling which has been excellent. I think he is a horse that could take a big step up in novice hurdles. He is probably a stayer and could be quite smart.”
Nicholls with owner Sir Alex Ferguson at Cheltenham
KALIF DU BERLAIS
“Kalif Du Berlais was a lovely juvenile we had last year and he won two races at Kempton, culminating in the Adonis, and then went to Aintree but was slightly over the top after a long year and coming over from France. He didn’t do himself any disservice finishing third at Aintree and the plan is to go novice chasing with him. He is a big, strong, strapping horse and chasing is his game and Paul has had some considerable success taking those four-year-olds novice chasing. He is that sort of horse.”
NARDARAN
“He is a lovely horse we bought off the Flat from Arqana. He finished third in a maiden there and is a lovely stamp of a juvenile and has a real bit of class and scope about him. He has started jumping and has shown a real good appetite for it. Hopefully, we will see him at the end of November/beginning of December. He could be quite a lovely juvenile.”
PIC D’ORHY
“He had a great year last year when winning the Grade One Ascot Chase and he also won the Grade Two 1965 Chase at Ascot in November and I imagine that is where we will see him back in action. Paul is very happy with him and he will go back and try and win that race again.”
Nicholls speaks to the media after Pic D’Orhy’s stunning run in the Betfair Ascot Chase
QUEBECOIS
“He won a bumper at Exeter very impressively and then went to Cheltenham and was a little disappointing. He has done plenty of schooling and has been very impressive. He is a very natural jumper and, being a half brother to the Albert Bartlett winner Brindisi Breeze, I could see him making up into a really top-class staying hurdler this year.”
REGENT’S STROLL
“He was very good in his bumper at Ascot then put up another nice performance when giving weight away at Newbury. He will go novice hurdling and I have never seen Harry (Cobden) so complimentary about a horse after he got off him at Newbury. He has done plenty of schooling and is probably our best novice. I think he will take a high rank and I think his long-term aim will be something along the lines of the Challow Hurdle at Newbury.”
RUBAUD
“He had a good year last year and won a Listed race at Kempton and then the Grade Two Elite Hurdle at Wincanton. He then tried to chase Constitution Hill around Kempton in the Christmas Hurdle and didn’t quite get near him. He won the Listed Hurdle at Kempton on Sunday for the second year running and it was a nice pipe-opener to his season. The plan is to go novice chasing after this and hope he is good enough to go for something like the Henry VIII on Tingle Creek Day at Sandown.”
Horses work up the gallop at Nicholls’ Ditcheat yard
SAUVIGNON
“Sauvignon is a juvenile we have for this year that we bought in France. He is a lovely horse and we gave him a bit of a break and he had six weeks out. He is back in and you probably won’t see him until Christmas time but he could take high rank amongst the UK juvenile hurdlers.”
STAGE STAR
“Stage Star is very well and he started brilliantly last year. His performance in the Paddy Power was one of the best performances by one of our horses last year and to hit the last and knock the stuffing out and then run away from some good horses up the hill was amazing. He is going to go for the Old Roan at Aintree and we are really happy and hoping for a good run. He is quite tricky as he has to go left-handed. We might look at something up to three miles later in the year and he is quite versatile ground wise. He just doesn’t want it very heavy.”
STAY AWAY FAY
“He had a really good beginning to the season, winning two novice chases and he ran well in the Cotswold Chase. The wheels fell off afterwards and he ran disappointingly at the Festival and was disappointing at Ayr. He was bought back at a dispersal sale which was good and he had a wind operation in the summer. He could start in the West Yorkshire Hurdle at Wetherby and then go on to the Coral Cup Handicap Chase at Newbury. He looks great and we are very happy with him.”
TEESHAN
“Teeshan won his bumper very impressively at Exeter and then ran in the Champion Bumper but was too keen in front and did too much. He still didn’t disgrace himself and finished in midfield. He was going to make his debut at Chepstow in the Persian War but he just had a bit of a stone bruise so couldn’t go there. We are just letting him recover from that but he is going to make a top-class novice hurdler.”