Despite sitting some £200,000 clear of nearest rival Philip Hobbs at the top of the table and more than £800,000 ahead of Willie Mullins, Paul Nicholls feels retaining his British trainers title could be too big an ask if the Irish champion trainer enjoys the success expected at Cheltenham next month.
At a media day this week he said: “We’ve had a bit of a slow start, but then if I’ve had a slow start everybody must have had a slow start as I’m still £200,000 in front.
“We’ve got loads and loads to run through the spring. We probably haven’t got the stars that we had for the big races and we are probably going to have to wait a couple of years for that.
“If Willie wins all those races – the Champion Chase, Champion Hurdle, all those big races – then it’s going to clearly be impossible to beat him, but at the end of the day what will be, will be.
“I’ve been lucky and I’ve been there and now we’ve got to rebuild and try to find some to take him on. He has got a fantastic squad and if they all run up to their best they will be hard to beat.”
He went on: “If we have a good spring and win it (championship) great, but if Willie has an awesome Cheltenham then it will make things interesting. It all depends what happens at Cheltenham.
“If we win, fantastic, but as I said we are not solely getting up in the morning working hard to win the trainers’ championship.
“I’ve said that 100 times before and that’s fact, but it is very nice if you do it.
“At the end of the day we are still a long way in front and I’d like to think we can crack £2million in prize money.”
AUX PTITS SOINS
6yo gr g (1/311)
Saint Des Saints - Reflexion Faite
John Hales
Aux Ptits Soins had a load of problems in the autumn, but he is back working very, very hard now. I am very pleased with what I’ve seen so far. We’ve got five weeks left to get him spot-on. Seeing him work last week, we wouldn’t be far away with him. It’s been a rush to get him back with all the problems he has had. If he does get there it will be a lot of credit to him. We are very happy with him, anyway.
CAPELAND
4yo b g (11)
Poliglote - Neiland
Mrs Kathy Stuart
Capeland won the listed bumper at Cheltenham on New Year’s Day and runs in another one at Newbury. He won a bumper in very soft ground last spring in France and we brought him over. I did not want to really go hurdling with him yet as we have so many four-year-olds. We thought he would be better for next year so we kept him for that bumper which he won nicely. He had been quite keen at home so we dropped him in and nearly gave him a bit too much to do. We will make more use of him today.
The ground will suit him, the only problem is that he has a 4lb penalty. I suspect today will be his last run of the season. He will then go novice hurdling next season - he jumps brilliantly - and should being a nice staying chaser. He will be a horse to follow.
DODGING BULLETS
8yo b g (111245/3111-)
Dubawi - Nova Cyngi
Martin Broughton & Friends
Dodging Bullets, the reigning two-mile champion chaser, looks absolutely amazing - we are thrilled with him at the moment. It has been one of those seasons for us, with the injuries to him and several others - it has not been plain sailing.
He was going to Cheltenham in November before we ran him in the Tingle Creek and the Clarence House but we schooled him one morning and two days later he was hopping lame. But for a week afterwards, we could not work out what was wrong with him. Then he threw an enormous splint so we had to give him a month stood in his box and treat it. He had lots of walking and bits and pieces as we waited for him to come sound again.
For the last eight weeks, we have had absolutely no problems with him and he has had a racecourse gallop as well. So he is all ready to go on. He looks in great shape and is good in his skin but whatever he does, a race will make a big difference to him ahead of Cheltenham.
Last year he needed his first run and then won three Grade 1. He seems every bit as good as he was last season and we are very pleased with his work. I don’t think we have ever had him quite so fit and well going into his first race of the season. Of course, he will come on for the run - he has to - but I am happy he is in good enough shape to run tidy on Saturday. He should be at the peak of his powers now. Un De Sceaux will be the one to beat when defending his title at Cheltenham - we haven’t taken him on yet.
EMERGING TALENT
7yo b g (1/22F2-41)
Golan - Elviria
Mr & Mrs Paul Barber
Emerging Talent is a young horse who is in the opening novice hurdle at Newbury. He won at Exeter on New Year’s Day and previously ran in the Persian War Novices’ Hurdle at Chepstow where he started favourite and disappointed in third. He went straight off to have a breathing operation after that and won very nicely in heavy ground at Exeter. He is a big strong chasing type, who will go chasing next season, and we will try and win some more novice hurdles with him. He is unlikely to go for the Cheltenham Festival unless it is one of the handicaps.
MODUS
6yo ch g (1180/2-3113)
Motivator - Alessandra
J.P. McManus
Modus has been one of the favourites for the Betfair Hurdle for a while. He was a good bumper horse - second in last year’s Champion Bumper and third at Punchestown.
We bought him in the summer and sold him to J.P. (McManus). He won at Taunton first time out and then he won at Newbury, beating Charmix who won by 17 lengths next time. Last time, he was third over Christmas but the ground at Taunton that day got heavier, heavier and heavier - basically it was unraceable.
He was very keen to start with but has settled now. He always loved his jumping, is a much more mature horse now and is getting better all the time. The Betfair Hurdle is a good race for a novice as hopefully you might be well handicapped but in a year’s time you might not be.
Whatever he does today, I think he will be better on some better ground later on. He can cope with the soft ground which will be the same for them all. He does lack a bit of experience but has always jumped very nicely. I think there is a lot of improvement to come from him - he is learning to settle - and is going forwards.
The first part of this season, we have not been that hard on him as I wanted him to settle and learn our routine. He does all that now. We have done a lot of work since his last run and I am just very happy with him.
Modus is obviously a high-class horse and we will see if he can win this big handicap. He will get two and a half miles in time but he is not slow - the testing ground will bring his stamina into play. He is a nice horse to have on the team. I bought him on spec and then sold him to J.P. He is the sort of horse we do well with and from day one Modus has been an absolutely awesome jumper - he has loved it. He will definitely jump fences in time and will make a really smart two-mile chaser.
PACHA DU POLDER
9yo b g (/P2P10/606/212-3)
Muhtathir - Ambri Piotta
Stewart Family
Will be the ride of Victoria Pendleton in the Foxhunters at the festival. Fakenham (February 19th) is the logical target after their excellent debut together when they failed by inches to land a point-to-point at Milborne St Andrew on January 31st.
It is important for Victoria to gain experience in a hunter chase before considering a tilt at the ultimate challenge of riding in the St James’s Place Foxhunter Chase at Cheltenham in March.
The race over three miles at Fakenham, an easy track, looks ideal and comes at a perfect time before Cheltenham.
Pacha Du Polder is a very classy chaser, a brilliant jumper, travels well in his races, has smart form over Aintree’s National fences and showed he stayed three miles at Milborne St Andrew.
Frankly, the improvement Victoria has made since she began this odyssey is phenomenal and she now looks the part when she comes down to Ditcheat to ride on our gallops.
Should Victoria reach Cheltenham, her and Pacha Du Polder are more than capable of finishing in the first six.
ROCKY CREEK
10yo b g (/225/2P10P-2P)
Dr Massini - Kissantell
Johnson & Stewart Families
Rocky Creek runs in the Betfair Denman Chase at Newbury today and this race has been his aim for a long time. He was second to Don Cossack in the Grade 1 at Down Royal in November and ran really tidy that day. He then went to Aintree and ran really poorly in the Grand Sefton Chase - we have fairly well worked out that he is not in love with jumping the Grand National fences. He always goes well at this time of year. Last year he won the big three-mile handicap chase at Kempton and he has such a high handicap mark now of 160 that I thought it would be nearly impossible to run in that race again, hence the Betfair Denman Chase bid. He is a good solid staying chaser. He is also in the Cheltenham Gold Cup but is very unlikely to run in it as there are other races for him. Today’s race is ideal for him as it is a valuable prize (£50,000) and he does like Newbury. He is a definite runner whatever the ground.
SAPHIR DU RHEU
7yo gr g (1114/U1F121-155
Al Namix - Dona Du Rheu
Stewart Family
Saphir had a gallop last week and will have another gallop. He has come really good and has turned a corner in himself. At Christmas, when some of ours weren’t running great, he was a little bit disappointing. He has had his palate cauterized since he last ran. Definitely his best form was last spring on better ground. Hopefully the ground will be better for him and we will see a different horse in the World Hurdle.
SILVINIACO CONTI
10yo ch g (3141/51171-22P)
Dom Alco - Gazelle Lulu
Potensis Bloodstock Ltd & Chris Giles
Silviniaco Conti is going to run in the Betfair Ascot Chase a week on Saturday which is a little bit of a change in plan. He is not in the Gold Cup, rather the World Hurdle at Cheltenham, though I am not that keen to run him in that. He has been entered in the Grand National, though that is a tentative entry this year. More than likely, he will run in the Bowl Chase at Aintree, which he has won for the past two years, again and then onto Punchestown.
He would probably be aimed at the National 12 months on but the plan is not set in stone. We will see what weight he gets for the National and see whether we are tempted to run this year.
He has had a bit of a stop start season. He has had problems with sarcoids, especially the one under his near-side foreleg. It has been a nightmare - he split open this sarcoid when racing at Haydock and for a week or two afterwards he was really, really sore. He did not run as well at Kempton as he normally does and I suspect it was because of that.
Ever since then, we have concentrated on healing the sarcoid and he has not problems with it now. For the first time this season, I am happy with him and he is not in any pain. Hopefully, we will have a great spring with him. There are not many races he can run in. The Ascot race is a Grade 1 and while two miles, five furlongs and a bit is short for him, with the ground as it is, you will need a stayer. He had a racecourse gallop last week at Wincanton and went nicely.
TOMMY SILVER
4yo b g (-21)
Silver Cross - Sainte Mante
Potensis Bloodstock Limited & Ged Mason
Tommy Silver will probably go to the Triumph Hurdle. I don’t have time to get another run into him. He’s a relatively inexperienced horse. He’s only had two starts over hurdles and one on the flat. He’s a very nice horse. I sent him to Musselburgh for the better ground, but then it turned out soft.