Paddy Power Gold Cup report: Marcus Townend reflects on Il Ridoto's win

When you have been King of the Jungle for such a long time, thumping your chest and daring newcomers to throw their best shot is a default position because it has largely worked.

The more measured Nicholls seems an acknowledgement that winning a 15th jump trainers’ championship is going to be tough. When he finished third last season behind Willie Mullins and Dan Skelton it felt a bit like a changing of the guard and that notion has got stronger after Skelton rushed out of the blocks this Summer.

But you don’t write off Nicholls. After a drab October which yielded only four winners, the most influential trainer in British jump racing for the first quarter of this century posted five winners at Wincanton last Saturday.

After Freddie Gingell-ridden 10/1 shot Il Ridoto had improved on last season’s third place to win him a fourth Paddy Power Gold Cup, the Nicholls chest was detectably jutting out by a few more inches.

The old Silver Back may have some serious bit of competition in his corner of the jumping jungle but his fighting spirit is undiminished.

Nicholls said: ‘‘I hope people are not writing us off. We are not doing anything different than we have for the last 25 years.

‘‘Dan was quick out of the blocks and I didn’t have enough older horses to run early on. We had to look after the youngsters. You just have to be patient. That is something I have learnt.

‘‘It is easy to go well in October and then fall off a cliff. It is a long season and a lot of horses which win in October don’t often win again. ‘We haven’t run three-quarters of our horses yet. So hopefully we can make the season last longer.

‘‘I haven’t rushed them and some have benefited from the run like Il Ridoto.’’

The result of the Paddy Power Gold Cup, with its £84,000 first prize, put Nicholls in a strange position.

While he was talking about his winner, he was also summoned to the Weighing Room to explain to the stewards his thoughts on why 3/1 favourite Ginny’s Destiny had pulled up.

Officially, there was no explanation, although Nicholls admitted his fears that the lack of a prep-run after Ginny’s Destiny missed a race due to a Newton Abbott fixture being abandoned had proved costly.

Nicholls backed Ginny’s Destiny, who he feels now probably needs three miles, to bounce back.

One of the best squad’s Fergie has had

He also predicted the team behind Il Ridoto are going to play a big part in his season.

The group, which includes ex-Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson and Sale Sharks co-owner Ged Mason, have had some 48 hours.

That duo are still in Bahrain after watching the Richard Fahey-trained Spirit Dancer carry their colours to victory for a £500,000 pay-day in the International Trophy for the second year running.

They also won the grade two novice hurdle at Cheltenham on Friday with Nigel Twiston-Davies-trained Potters Charm and have big-money purchases Caldwell Potter and Regent’s Stroll about to be unleashed by Nicholls.

In a neat line, Nicholls quipped: ‘’It must be one of the best squad’s Fergie has had for a long time.’’

Nicholls is going to need every ounce of his team pulling in the right direction.

While he was winning the feature race, Skelton was on the board with the frightfully impressive L’Eau Du Sud in the Grade Two Paddy Power Arkle Challenge Trophy Trial Novices’ Chase and Doyen Quest in the From The Horses Mouth Podcast Handicap Hurdle.

The wins pushed Skelton last £1million in prize money for the season and he still leads Nicholls by the best part of £500,000. That is a big gap but not quite as daunting and impossible to overcome as it looked to Nicholls just over a week ago.

Plough your own furrow

He is on a roll as is his teenage jockey Gingell, who has benefited from Bryony Frost’s switch to France, being handed more opportunities in big races by Nicholls.

Gingell won the Grade One Clarence House Chase at Cheltenham in January on Elixir Du Nutz, who is trained by his uncle Joe Tizzard.

The jockey, who will celebrate his 19th birthday next month, said: ‘‘It is what every jockey dreams of. I was very lucky to win a grade one here in January.

‘‘Obviously, Bryony has gone to France now and I took over the role from her. I am very thankful for Paul putting his trust in me. He is letting me ride some nice horses in big races. It is all going the right way

‘‘To come here in front of all these people and win the main race of the weekend is amazing. I thought he had a lovely chance of being placed with him being third last year but I didn’t think he would win by that far.

‘‘I am not a football fan but I probably should be with these boys owning it.’’

The opportunities are likely to come thick for Gingell in the coming week but it seems likely he will remain grounded given how he intended to celebrate his win on Il Ridoto.

‘‘I am more of a farmer,’’ he said. ‘’We have a family farm and I will probably go home now and do a bit of hedge trimming or ploughing to keep me busy.’’

Talk about ploughing your own furrow.

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