Paul Nicholls: Stable Tour including Clan Des Obeaux, Frodon, Cyrname, Hitman & Bravemansgame
With his team boasting strength and depth in every department, stopping Paul Nicholls from securing a 13th Jumps Trainers’ Championship could prove a difficult task for his rivals this season.
Having claimed a 12th title last campaign with a personal best seasonal tally of 176 winners, the Ditcheat master looks in a strong position to successfully defend his crown.
Early signs are encouraging for the Manor Farm Stables handler that he will once again be prove the man to beat after saddling 30 winners before October 1 which even by his high standards is an impressive feat.
Reflecting on the 2020-21 campaign, Nicholls said: “We started on July 1 and had the first winner of the season and the last winner of the season at Sandown. It was a great season to get 176 winners in considering we lost two months.
“We won the King George again, and though we didn’t have a Cheltenham Festival winner, we had some great times.
“A 12th King George was fantastic and Politologue winning a second Tingle Creek was great but I suppose the real big one was the pleasure we got going over to Ireland and winning at Punchestown with Clan Des Obeaux.”
Straight to Kempton the plan with Clan
Looking at the current season so far, he continued: “We have had a great start already and I don’t think we have ever trained many more than 20 winners by October 1st and we were on 31 before we started at Chepstow last weekend, which is really good.”
Prior to Clan Des Obeaux landing the Punchestown Gold Cup the nine year old had got his season back on track when bolting up by 26 lengths in the Betway Bowl at the Randox Grand National Festival at Aintree.
Although things failed to go right for Clan Des Obeaux in last year’s Ladbrokes King George VI Chase on Boxing Day, Nicholls believes he can add to his 2018 and 2019 successes in the race and once again be crowned the king of Kempton Park.
He said: “Clan had a good time last season and the cheekpieces just woke him up a fraction. He probably should have won at Newbury. He was a bit idle that day but it was prep race for Aintree as he didn’t have the best run in the King George before that.
“This year his first run will be at Kempton in the King George and we are not going to run him before then because I think he is good fresh and that Haydock race (Betfair Chase) takes a bit out of him.
“The idea is to go Kempton, Newbury, Aintree and Punchestown. We will probably go to Wincanton for a gallop beforehand.
“We will try and win a third King George with him and it would be great if he can do that. If Clan runs like he did at Aintree and Punchestown, he would take all the beating.”
Frodon never down and out
Standing in Clan Des Obeaux’s way will be stablemate Frodon who will defend his Ladbrokes King George VI Chase crown after taking in a trip to Down Royal to contest the Grade One Ladbrokes Champion Chase.
He said: “Frodon will go back and try and defend his title but he will go to Down Royal first for the good race there then go to Kempton then make a plan after Christmas which route we go with him.
“He had the run of the race in the King George but he keeps surprising people all the time. However, that is the nature of the horse.
“I might go to Leopardstown with him after Christmas but we will keep all options open. We might enter him in the Gold Cup. I know Mr Vogt (Paul Vogt, owner) would like to run him in that but I’m not totally convinced that is his race.
“There are plenty of good races for him. Ultimately, he loves Sandown on the last day of the season and the Oaksey Chase.”
Having secured a second Betfair Tingle Creek at Sandown in December, Politologue ended last season on a low key note when a well-beaten fourth in the Marsh Chase at Aintree. However, Nicholls is confident the popular grey can bounce back this term.
He said: “He is 10 going on 11 but he is still as enthusiastic as ever. He won the Tingle Creek last year but it is looking even stronger on paper this year.
“The other option is to go for the Shloer Chase at Cheltenham as he loves it there and the then Desert Orchid at Kempton. We would then give him a nice break and go fresh to Cheltenham. That is one option to do those three.
“He would be ready to run in a month’s time. He had that bleed in the saddling boxes at Cheltenham last year but we played safe with him. To get him right for Aintree from Cheltenham didn’t suit him but he strikes me as being as good as ever.
“John (Hales, owner) was going to retire him but his daughter Lisa, like me, has seen that he still has that enthusiasm. I bet he will run a blinder first time out.”
Strength in depth to two-mile team
Having made a triumphant return to action in the Haldon Gold Cup 12 months ago all roads will lead back to the Grade Two feature at Exeter for Greaneteen, who tasted Grade One glory in the Celebration Chase on the last day of the season at Sandown Park.
Nicholls said: “What an improved horse he is from two years ago when he started jumping fences off 132. He has just progressed and we thought the Haldon Gold Cup would be good for him last season and he won that well.
“He is now 168 having improved again in the spring. He ran very well in the Champion Chase not beaten very far (beaten two lengths when finishing fourth), where I wish we made more use of him.
“He ran very well at Sandown where they went flat out and he relaxed. The biggest thing with him is getting him relaxed. When he ran in the Game Spirit he ran too fresh and too keen and didn’t finish. I’m going to run him in the Haldon Gold Cup as a prep for the Tingle Creek.
“He will run off his merits but off 168 winning the Haldon Gold Cup he would want to be very special. You need a prep for the Tingle Creek and that is his race. Hopefully, he can improve again.”
The Haldon Gold Cup has been a happy hunting ground for Nicholls with a record seven victories and he appears to have a formidable team for this year’s race at the Devon track on Tuesday 2nd November after earmarking it as a target for Hitman.
He said: “Hitman is a lovely horse and we will start him in the Haldon Gold Cup. He has got plenty of boot and two and a quarter around Exeter will suit him very well.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if he improved a lot this season. He won well first time out then he ran very well on his second start over fences then he fell when travelling very well in the Scilly Isles at Sandown then won at Newbury and ran very well in the Grade One at Aintree.
“I thought he would win going to the last at Aintree but I think he was a little bit exuberant as he got left in front early in the race and he probably got outstayed from the back of the last. I think there is a lot to come.”
Betfair Chase most likely destination
A step up to Grade One company over fences in the Betfair Chase at Haydock Park (Saturday 20th November) awaits Next Destination, who found only Galvin too strong on his final start at The Festival™ in the Sam Vestey National Hunt Challenge Cup Novices’ Chase.
He said: “He will probably have an entry in the Ladbrokes Trophy but he will probably run in the Betfair Chase the week before if the ground is testing as that would be a nice race for him.
“It was a massive team effort to get him on the track as he had been off for two and a half years as he is very fragile. He made his debut over fences in the Grade Two at Newbury which he won then he won another Grade Two at Warwick and ran well at Cheltenham.
“If the ground had of been more testing he might have been harder to beat but Galvin had a bit more boot from the last. If he won the Betfair he would get a Gold Cup entry but he has got to improve on all known form. Getting him right last season was a challenge and it reflects well on our team.”
Charlie Hall date for super Cyrname
Cyrname will attempt to throw his hat in the ring as a potential WellChild Cheltenham Gold Cup contender by making a winning return in the Grade Two bet 365 Charlie Hall Chase at Wetherby on October 30th.
He said: “He will go straight to the Charlie Hall which he won last year. He has had his palate re-cauterized.
“I doubt he will have an entry in the King George this year as I think we have worked out that it doesn’t really suit him. There will be other options for him.
“I wouldn’t be afraid to enter him in the Gold Cup if won the Charlie Hall. If we went there fresh I think Cheltenham might suit him as he has got time to fill his lungs up and it is left handed but that is a long way off yet. He doesn’t want to run too often as he is not easy to get right but when he is, he is good.”
Enrilo fell foul off the stewards after being disqualified from the Grade Three bet365 Gold Cup at Sandown, but Nicholls hopes compensation can await the seven year old at the same level in the Ladbrokes Trophy at Newbury next month.
He said: “Harry (Skelton) said if he went into the second last and got him to wing it he would have been three lengths in front and what happened after the last wouldn’t have happened. He was a massively improved horse and I know I can get him better. He is a bit idle in front and putting cheekpieces on is something we might think about.
“The Ladbrokes Trophy is where we will start as he has won at Newbury. He travels well and there will be plenty of pace and he will get plenty of cover.
“I was toying with going to the Badger Beer chase but I didn’t want him to pick up a penalty as off 147 he is on a fair mark. He might be a National horse one day.”
Hurdling start for Master Tommytucker
With his jumping issues now resolved, an outing in the Grade Two Peterborough Chase Sunday 5th November) at Huntingdon is a potential option for Master Tommytucker later in the campaign.
He said: “He is going to run in the bet365 Hurdle at Wetherby which we have won before with a chaser like Tidal Bay as it will just sharpen him up first time out.
“The 1965 Chase at Ascot would then suit him or the Peterborough Chase at Huntingdon. In the spring the Ascot Chase would be his target. There is a big race in him somewhere.”
Last season’s Challow Hurdle winner Bravemansgame, will test the water over fences at Grade Two level in the John Romans Park Homes 'Rising Stars' Novices' Chase (Saturday 6th November) at Wincanton after making a winning debut over the larger obstacles at Newton Abbot.
He said: “He did it nicely at Newton Abbot and though it was his first run over fences but he jumped lovely.
“I thought we would win and if we thought he was good as he was getting all that weight, if he jumped, he was going to be hard to beat. If we didn’t think he jumped well at home we wouldn’t have taken on the older horses.
“He will step up in class now and go for the Grade Two Rising Stars at Wincanton and then make a plan after that. He would definitely get three miles at Kempton but whether we stick at two and a half I don’t know but he will obviously have an entry the Kauto Star at Kempton.”
Chasing could be making of McFabulous
Bravemansgame is not the only high class novice chaser Nicholls has among his team this season with Grade Two-winning hurdle McFabulous set to join his stablemate over fences this campaign.
He said: “McFabulous had a little setback when he came in so he is a month behind the others. I might run him in the Grade Two at Newbury that Next Destination won last year and that might be the ideal race for him. I want to keep him and Bravemansgame apart for the moment.
“He has done a lot of schooling at home but that is why he stayed over hurdles last season as I thought he needed the experience. He is not like Bravemansgame who will attack the fences, jump and do it all. He will get lots of practice before going on the track and hopefully he will be fine and that chasing will be the making of him.”
Monmiral went from strength-to-strength last season culminating in tasting Grade One glory at Aintree in April in the Doom Bar Anniversary 4-Y-O Juvenile Hurdle.
The four year old will now seek to double his tally at the highest level by maintaining his unbeaten record in next month’s Betfair Fighting Fifth Hurdle at Newcastle.
He said: “Monmiral had a great season winning all four of his starts in this country, ending in the Grade One at Aintree.
“The plan at the moment is to go for the Fighting Fifth at Newcastle and see where we stand and he will be ready for his life for that.
“His Gold Cup would probably be the Aintree Hurdle in the spring, but he might tell us different. Newcastle is a bit of a marker for us.
“In my view I don’t think he is a Champion Hurdle horse but if he wins at Newcastle he falls into that category.
“He is bred to be a staying chaser but you have to win by staying in the Champion Hurdle.”
Young guns ready to step up to the plate
Knappers Hill made a winning debut over hurdles at Chepstow earlier this month to maintain his unbeaten record, however Nicholls is keen to get more experience into last season’s winner of the Grade Two Weatherbys nhstallions.co,uk Standard Open National Hunt Flat Race winner before raising his sights again.
He said: “He still thinks he is a Flat horse. He has got to knuckle down and concentrate on his jumping as he was a bit keen the other day.
“I think the more this horse does, the better he will get, as he has got a huge engine. He has just got to get his jumping right.
“I’m going to go to Wincanton on November 6th for a National Hunt Novices’ Hurdle under a penalty then if he won that we might possibly go to Ascot for the Kennel Gate. Two miles is ideal at the moment.”
Although Knappers Hill is expected to develop into a useful novice hurdler Nicholls expects Huflower, Shearer, Stage Star and the mare Rainyday Woman to make an impact in the same division.
He said: “Shearer won a bumper last season but he is a staying chaser for the future. I’ve a load of horses like him who are all two and half mile novice hurdlers this season. He is ready to make his debut soon and has jumped nicely at home.
“Huflower is another nice horse that won two on the Flat in France last year. He will go to the novice hurdle on Haldon Gold Cup day to start off. Stage Star won at Chepstow first time and was second and third then to Knappers Hill. I’d say Stage Star would jump a bit better than Knappers Hill at the moment.
“Rainyday Woman won her bumpers last season winning well at Stratford then at Huntingdon in the Listed bumper there.
“She wasn’t quite right in the spring and the ground was a bit too deep for her at Sandown. She has had a breathing operation but she is a lovely mare and hopefully she will be one of the better mares going novice hurdling.”
New recruits looking the part
Joining Nicholls over the summer have been some familiar faces arriving from other yards including the former Harry Whittington-trained pair of Saint Calvados and Rouge Vif and Lalor from the yard of Kayley Wollacott.
He said: “Lalor has had lots of issues and has lots of problems having pulled up on his last two runs in the past 18 months. The first thing we did is give him a breathing operation. He seems in great shape and he has done some grafting.
"He has done everything we have asked him but the proof in the pudding will be when he runs. He will go straight to the Paddy Power Gold Cup (at Cheltenham on Saturday 13th November).
“I’ve not had the horses from Andrew Brooks (owner of Saint Cavados and Rouge Vif) long enough to get to know them well enough but Saint Calvados might go to Ascot at the end of November then go to the King George as he ran well in that last year.
“Rouge Vif, if ready, would probably go to Cheltenham for the Shloer Chase (Sunday 14th November). Andrew Brooks has got a nice team we are lucky to have them.”
When it comes to juvenile hurdlers, Nicholls believes in Magistrato and Matterhorn he has two horses that plenty could be heard of for years to come.
He said: “Magistrato was second at Auteuil and won really nicely at Chepstow the other day. I’m not going to rush him and I might go down the route I did with Monmiral and take him to Doncaster for the Grade Two there.
“Matterhorn is another nice horse. He looked unlucky at Auteuil as he was in the lead jumping the last but he spun himself sideways when he made a mistake. He stayed on to finish third but he could have gone close to winning that day. I’m hoping that both these two will be smart individuals.”
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