The Jockey Club's Graham Clark gets the inside track on some of Paul Nicholls' leading challengers ahead of a new National Hunt campaign.
After setting a new personal best prize money total, along with being crowned champion Jump trainer for the 14th time, the 2022/23 campaign was one to remember for Paul Nicholls. With a stable oozing with talent, this season could be even more rewarding for one of Jump racing’s most formidable forces.
With Samarrive and Iceo finishing third and fourth respectively in the final race of the season at Sandown Park it saw Nicholls set a new personal best prize money total of £3, 646, 585 which was just £74 bigger than his previous best tally of £3,646, 511 set during the 2007/08 campaign.
Standout moments in that record breaking campaign included a 13th victory in the Ladbrokes King George VI Chase courtesy of Bravemansgame, along with Cheltenham Festival wins for Stage Star in the Turners Novices’ Chase and Stay Away Fay in the Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle.
And there is plenty of excitement building at Nicholls' yard in Ditcheat with a team of novice chasers being assembled to rival the best on offer together with a number of already established high-quality individuals and a promising crop of youngsters all with their best days ahead of them.
Nicholls said: “Last season was a good season and we just cracked it by setting a new record level of prize money. We had 160 plus winners and lots of good race winners including two at the Cheltenham Festival and we built up a good string of horses that we hope will do well this season.
“We all want to have Cheltenham Festival winners, but you have got to have horses that are good enough to run there. However it was good to get another two there. We’ve had not far of 50 winners at The Festival (48) which for the yard is brilliant and we will keep going in search of more.”
Chasers
BRAVEMANSGAME
“He will either go for the Charlie Hall Chase or the Betfair Chase, but we haven’t decided yet. I don’t want to go to Haydock if it is really heavy, however I don’t want to go to Wetherby if it is fast.
“If the ground is soft at Wetherby it will be a big consideration put it that way and we will leave Pic D’Orhy for another day. He is ready to run next week.
“The two targets for him this season though are the King George and Cheltenham Gold Cup. We might run him somewhere between the King George and the Gold Cup, but I’ve not made that plan yet. Those are my target races.
“He was awesome in the Gold Cup and he ran well at Punchestown. He was always on the front end in the Gold Cup, and he kept galloping.
“People said he didn’t truly stay, but if you took the winner out you wouldn’t say he didn’t stay as they were clear.
“We might ride him a bit more conservatively in the race this season. He has improved physically so he will be in the mix again.
“I’d say you are at your best when you are eight, nine or ten. He has peaked now so he has still got another good go at it.”
COMPLETE UNKNOWN
“He had a wind operation over the summer, and he definitely improved for that. He had a nice run around Newton Abbot on Saturday.
“I’ve put him in the Paddy Power Gold Cup, but I imagine he will now go for the Coral Gold Cup at Newbury. We will see how he gets on in that first before making any other plans.
“He could be a smart staying chaser and be the sort of horse that has an entry in the Welsh National afterwards. He would be a Grand National horse one day.
“It is unlikely to be this season for the Grand National, but I would think we will look at it next season with him. We were pleased with him last season, but it was always on our mind to give him a wind operation.”
ENRILO
“Since being disqualified from the bet365 Gold Cup (in 2021) he has been slightly disappointing. He was travelling well in the Badger Beer then he fell and he also fell in the bet365 Gold Cup at Sandown at the end of last season.
“He has done loads of schooling and a lot of work and the plan is to target the Badger Beer Chase again where Angus Cheleda will ride him. He will drop in a good race somewhere as I think he is well handicapped. He is a real head scratcher, but he has got plenty of ability.
“I might run him Sunday at Wincanton first just to give him a little pop around.”
FLASH COLLONGES
“He wants good ground and his main aim will be the Scottish National. He is virtually ready to run and he might go to the November Meeting at Cheltenham to run in the race which is almost three and a half miles if the ground is okay.
“He was going well in the Scottish National until he fell. I’m sure there is a nice race in him.
“I don’t think he would be one for the Grand National as he is too slow and you need a bit of boot around there. He wants really good ground.”
FRODON
“He goes back to the Badger Beer Chase. He is fresh, fit and well and is back on the same mark as when he won it last year. He could do with a dry spell in the run up to the race as he wouldn't want it too soft. He is no different now to what he was a year ago.
“If he won the Badger Beer Chase you would be saying he is as good as ever. They are a long time retired, and he loves doing what he is doing.
“We won’t run him much and just pick and choose our races. He has been brilliant for the yard. He has won a King George and a Ryanair among other Grade Ones. He has been a brilliant horse.”
GINNY’S DESTINY
“He has joined us this season and looks a lovely horse to go novice chasing. He was second in the Leamington Novices’ Hurdle at Warwick last season and he is rated 135.
“I don’t know too much about him and with a horse like him we will need to run him to see what we think.
“He is ready to start off in a novice handicap chase and we will run him in one of those first over two and a half miles at Cheltenham on Friday and take it from there, but he does jump very well.”
GOLDEN SON
“He is a lovely horse and was one of the best juveniles in France before coming to us. He missed last season with a tiny leg problem.
“That time won’t have been lost on him as he has done very well. He is due to start in a novice chase at Warwick in a fortnight.”
GREANETEEN
“He will either go for the Haldon Gold Cup at Exeter or the Shloer Chase at Cheltenham. He has just been a little bit behind. He has had a wind operation, and he is slowly coming along.
“He is probably not quite what he was, but he has been a brilliant horse. We have just got to place him right to win. He ran well in the Champion Chase last season, but he didn’t run quite so well in the Celebration Chase at Sandown, however I think his wind is catching him.
“Now we have that sorted it might improve him a few pounds so he might be really competitive. We might step him up to two and a half miles at some point.”
HERMES ALLEN
“He was lame as he had a bruised foot, but he is fine now. The vet came into check him on Monday and he trotted up fine. He was going to run on Saturday at Newton Abbot but he basically had a stone bruise. He had to have a few days off to get it right. I’ve not made a concrete plan with him yet.
“Ultimately, I would like to go for the two-and-a-half-mile Grade Two novices’ chase at Newbury in December and hopefully have a run before then.
“We could possibly go for the Kauto Star Novices’ Chase at Kempton on Boxing Day, but it might be he is better over two and a half miles. He is an exciting novice chaser.
“He has had a wind operation as I think his wind was affecting him after the Challow Hurdle so I think you can put a line through those last two runs.”
HENRI THE SECOND
“The plan is to take him to Sandown Park on November 12th for a two-and-a-half-mile novices’ handicap chase. He is only rated 130 and I think he is well handicapped. He should go very close there.
“He jumps well and he has had his wind done as that was catching him a bit last season, but that is a lovely mark for him to run off. He will be a good chaser and there is huge improvement to come from him.”
HITMAN
“He will run in the Old Roan at Aintree on Sunday. He ran an absolute blinding race in the Ryanair and that will be his target again. He will run well at the weekend as he loves to be fresh.
“I think he probably over performs at times and he puts everything into it and runs above himself a little bit.
“I actually think he is probably a 145-rated horse that can run to the high 150s. I am sure he will win a nice race. He is still only a young horse.
“I’m not afraid to go three miles again with him. He was not right in the King George.”
ICEO
“I intend to still run him in the Henry VIII Novices’ Chase at Sandown Park. He had plenty of weight when he got beat at Newton Abbot on Saturday and he didn’t run quite to his best. I think being fresh is the key to him.
“He didn’t beat much the first time over fences and it was a much hotter race at the weekend. He will leave that behind. Two good horses beat him that were getting loads of weight off him on heavy ground.”
IL RIDOTO
“He is in the Paddy Power Gold Cup, but the week after at Haydock Park there is a graduation chase at that I have won with Hitman, and he is eligible so I might go for that. The New Course at Cheltenham suits him well.
“It could be we go to Haydock Park then on to the December Gold Cup at Cheltenham. That’s what I’m thinking at the moment.”
KNAPPERS HILL
“He had a super run around the other day at Chepstow. The ground was far too soft for him for his first start over fences, but I had to start him off somewhere. A lot of those I’ve run in the Rising Stars at Wincanton, which is where he will go next, have had a run at Chepstow before.
“I’ve had a load of horses beaten in that race at Chepstow that have then gone on to progress. He jumped around which was a winner for us. I’d say he is two and a half mile to two mile six furlong novice chaser. He loves good ground, and he will be a great horse for the spring.
“He is not the biggest in the world and we just wanted to get that clear round with him. Harry (Cobden) was thrilled with him. We can build on that.”
MAKIN’YOURMINDUP
“He is a little bit behind as he had a little setback, but he is fine now. He will go for three-mile novice chases although I’ve made no plan for him yet.
“He won a Grade Two at Haydock Park last season and he has slipped under the radar a bit but he will be an exciting novice chaser. In about three weeks’ time he will be ready to go.
“It surprised me he won first time out last season as after his bumper runs I thought he was fairly ordinary.”
MONMIRAL
“He has had a little setback. It was nothing much and he is back in full work now. He will be ready to run from January 1st onwards. He is the sort of horse that will drop into a nice race somewhere.
“We have done his wind, but he came in with a few little issues with his feet and it has just put me on the back foot.
“I was going to go for the Paddy Power Gold Cup as I think he has got a nice mark. He might appear in a handicap when he returns. If I can get him back he will be a good horse over fences.”
PIC D’ORHY
“He could go for the Charlie Hall. If he didn’t run in that he would run in the two-mile five Grade Two at Ascot a few weeks later.
“He won’t run against Bravemansgame in the King George as it is quite important that Harry (Cobden) rides him.
“The Peterborough Chase would be another target then the Ascot Chase and back to Aintree. We might put him in the Ryanair, but it would be nice to try him over three miles at some point.
“It was brilliant to see him win the Grade One at Aintree. Harry and him have come a long way together. He has just matured, and he jumps well now as at first over fences he was a bit novicey.
“He is a good horse. He has won at Ascot so it blows it out of the water that he is only best on flat tracks.”
SOLO
“The plan is to run in the Haldon Gold Cup. He is brilliant fresh and he won very well first time up last season at Sandown Park.
“He scooted up there and then he went and won the Grade Two Pendil Novices’ Chase at Kempton Park later in the season. That race was tailor made for him.
“I think the Haldon Gold Cup will be a nice race for him. He is not exactly thrown in there, but he will be ready for it.”
STAGE STAR
“He was great for us last season winning the Turners Novices’ Chase at the Cheltenham Festival and we will send him back to Cheltenham for the Paddy Power Gold Cup. He is good left-handed so that restricts where we go with him.
“He goes well fresh so he should go well in the Paddy Power Gold Cup. His aim in the spring will be the Ryanair Chase.
“It will be a big ask for him with the weight he will have to carry in the Paddy Power Gold Cup, but where else do I go with him? My hand is almost forced with him.
“He was good over fences last season. Just like Bravemansgame, and Denman, he won the Challow but then was beaten over hurdles at The Festival, however look how they improved over fences and Stage Star was the same.
“His win at Cheltenham on Trials Day made up our minds that we should go back to The Festival with him and he jumped super that day.”
STAY AWAY FAY
“He will start at Exeter on November 10th in a novices’ chase on the under card to the Haldon Gold Cup. He will then be aimed at the Kauto Star Novices’ Chase at Kempton Park on Boxing Day and then the Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase at The Festival.
“He jumps well and stays well. He kept on improving last season and I hope that will be the same over fences this season. He should have won the River Don at Doncaster, but he improved from that run and did the job well at Cheltenham.
“I didn’t think he would win at Cheltenham, but I knew he would run very well as I knew he was better than what he showed at Doncaster.
“I think, like a few of ours, he had gone over the top at Aintree. I never take Aintree form literally after they have had hard races at Cheltenham. It did him good experience wise and now he is in a real good place.”
TAHMURAS
“He is another smart horse, and he won the Tolworth Hurdle last season. He is nearly ready to go, and I might start him in a two-mile novices’ handicap at Chepstow in a couple of weeks’ time, or he could go two and a half miles somewhere.
“I suspect he wants two and a half miles, but he ain’t slow. He surprised me last season in the Tolworth, but he was quite good enough in the spring. I think chasing he will be better.
“Although he won a point-to-point I’m not convinced he wants three miles, but I might be wrong.”
THREEUNDERTHRUFIVE
“He has had a wind operation, and he will go for the Badger Beer Chase at Wincanton. He is in a very good place. He ran well in the Scottish Grand National, however he wasn’t given the best of rides when he fell early in the Coral Gold Cup.
“I think there are lots of positives this season in that he has had a breathing operation and that Harry Cobden is going to ride him.
“He would have an entry in the Grand National later in the season. With Frodon in the Badger Beer it means he will have eleven stone on his back which is a nice weight in a race like that.”
Hurdlers & bumper horses
AFADIL
“The plan is to run him at Cheltenham on Friday and then head for the Greatwood Hurdle back at Cheltenham next month. Races like the Betfair Hurdle will be for him after Christmas. I think he has improved, and he will win a nice one.
“I had him entered at Chepstow earlier this month, but the ground was heavy, and he wasn’t quite right. He won three races last season and just kept on improving. He is a nice horse.”
BLUEKING D’OROUX
“I was pulling my hair out at the start of the season as I thought he was quite a nice horse, but he ran two shocking races. I sent him straight to Geoff Lane (equine vet) and he had a wind operation.
“He didn’t show a lot at home before he went to Ascot, but I knew after jumping the first he was going to win. He ran well and beat Afadil with a big weight. He ran well at Aintree, but he was in front soon enough that day.
“He has improved physically and I’m looking forward to running him in the Masterson Holdings Hurdle at Cheltenham on Saturday. He will be in all those good handicap hurdles this season.”
CAPTAIN TEAGUE
“He was a good bumper horse, and he won the Persian War the other day. He will probably go to the November Meeting at Cheltenham for the Grade Two that Hermes Allen won last season. He will then hopefully go onto the Challow Hurdle at Newbury.
“He was green at Chepstow, and he needed the run, so he can only improve for it. We hadn’t really trained him for the Champion Bumper and that was a good end to the season.
“Whatever he does over hurdles will be good, but he will be some chaser next season. He is as good as the likes of Hermes Allen.
“He has got plenty of boot, and more boot than probably both Hermes Allen and Denman who both won the Challow Hurdle.”
FARNOGE
“Complete Unknown won the European Breeders’ Fund “National Hunt” Novices’ Handicap Hurdle Final at Sandown Park the season before last and I can see him doing the same thing. He would be the right horse for it. He might be better than that, who knows.
“The plan is to go to Newbury next for the race I won last year with Stay Away Fay and see where we go from there.
“Ultimately next season he will be a super chaser and that is his job. Two and a half miles is probably his trip, but he will get a bit further. He is the complete mirror of Complete Unknown.”
FIRE FLYER
“He is one of our best novice hurdlers. He won on his debut at Ascot last season, and you can put a line through his last start at Newbury. The ground was firm, and I shouldn’t have run him, but I did.
“He is going to go the November Meeting at Cheltenham for the Listed bumper there on the Saturday and then he will go novice hurdling. He is a very smart horse.
“I think he is up there with Inthewaterside and Captain Teague and this is a nice bumper to start him off in.”
HUGOS NEW HORSE
“He will stay over hurdles this season I think. He is in this weekend at Cheltenham in the Pertemps qualifier and he is also in at Aintree and he is likely to run at one of those tracks.
“I think he is an ideal candidate for the Lanzarote Hurdle at Kempton Park after Christmas. That will be the ideal race for him then we can possibly go for the Coral Cup ahead of going chasing next season.
“He just kept winning last season and I think he will do the same again as there is more to come from him.”
INTHEWATERSIDE
“He won two bumpers last season and to be honest he surprised us a little bit. He has entries at Cheltenham and at Aintree over the next few days, but I want to get a run into him now. I’m not convinced what trip he wants yet as he is not short of boot.
“He is a lovely horse that did nothing wrong at all last season. He was a surprise package, but those are the ones you like to get.
“He should be an exciting horse this season, but it is the old cliche in that he will be a good novice chaser next season.”
ISAAC DES OBEAUX
“He had a wind operation in the summer which will help him enormously. He was a big weak horse. I ran him in one last season and probably should have finished him but as Paul (Barber) was ill and I pressed on and ran him a couple of more times.
“Paul came the last time he ran at Chepstow, but he was probably a bit weak and over the top.
“He jumps nicely, and I like him, and we will start him off in a novice hurdle at Cheltenham on Friday. He is closely related to Clan Des Obeaux.”
LARCHMONT LASS
“She is a lovely filly that won a Listed bumper at Sandown Park on her final start last season. She will go for Listed mares’ bumper at the November Meeting at Cheltenham and then she will go novice hurdling.
“Her aim will be something like the Jane Seymour at Sandown Park after Christmas. She is a nice filly. As she is eligible for that bumper we decided to take aim at that first. I think she will take top rank in those mares’ novice hurdles.”
LIARI
“He is a nice juvenile hurdler. I didn’t run him at Chepstow as the ground was bottomless and I don’t think Cracksman’s want it too soft.
“He has done everything nicely at home, and has won on the flat, but he has got to go do it on the track over jumps. He is likely to go to Wincanton on Sunday for his first start and we will take it from there.”
MEATLOAF
“He is a very nice horse and he managed to win two bumpers last season. He progressed well and he may well make his debut at Wincanton early next month. He is a couple of weeks off a run.
“It was good to see his form boosted by Emma Lavelle’s horse at Wincanton (Classic King) who he beat last time out. He shouldn’t have run at Newbury so you can put a line through that effort.”
RICKERTY BRIDGE
“He was beaten a short head in his bumper last time out. He knew he had a race, and we will probably give him another bumper start then go novice hurdling.
“He is a smartly bred youngster from the same family as Big Buck’s.”
RUBAUD
“The plan is to go for the Elite Hurdle at Wincanton then the Christmas Hurdle and we will then make another plan for him in the spring.
“He was a progressive horse last season and he had it all to do at the weights at Kempton Park on Sunday. He made all, and won nicely, and he can only improve for that run.
“They say should you never be afraid of one horse, but I think with Constitution Hill that goes out of the window. Even if he finishes second in the Christmas Hurdle he will still pick up a nice bit of prize money.”
SEEYOUINMYDREAMS
“She won well last season at Newbury. I sent her up to Aintree for the Grade Two mares’ bumper, but it was too much for her. Looking back, it was the wrong thing to send her up there.
“She will start at Newbury on November 9th and then go back there for a race at the Coral Gold Cup meeting. She is a good filly.”
WRAPPEDUPINMAY
“He ran well the other day at Ffos Las. We could have made more use of him as he stays well, and he will get three miles. He was as a big as a bull and he will improve a heap for that run. He is a winner without a penalty really as he will win wherever he goes next.
“He is not far off Stay Away Fay level, and he will be running in those good three-mile novice hurdles.
“The winner that beat him the other day cost a lot at the sales so he was no mug, and the rest were out with the washing. I’d like to think he will be an Albert Bartlett horse come the spring.”
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