Graham Clark gets the inside track from Paul Nicholls on plans for his star-studded team this season.
Paul Nicholls might have let slip his grip on the National Hunt Trainers’ Championship last season, but it would come as little surprise should the prize he has made his own make it back to Ditcheat again.
While Nicholls was forced to wait another season to try and claim a record equalling 15th jump trainers’ title after finishing third behind Willie Mullins and his former assistant Dan Skelton, it was still a campaign blessed with many notable successes.
However, away from the racetrack the trainer had to deal with the loss of leading owner, and close friend, Paul Barber in June 2023, while in February he was dealt the hammer blow of losing staff member Keagan Kirkby following a point-to-point accident.
While both losses hit the Gold Cup-winning handler hard, life, as they say, has to move on and the master of Manor Farm Stables is now looking forward to continuing plotting his way towards reaching 4000 winners and toasting more big race triumphs.
He said: “It was tough last season as to start off with we lost Paul Barber, who was an amazing friend and mentor of mine, and landlord for all those years.
“Then of course later in the season we lost poor old Keagan in that tragic point-to-point accident which was a very hard time for the yard.
“We still managed to have a good season with 132 winners, along with a good strike rate, without winning the championship, but you can’t win the Premier League each season, as it depends what players you have in your squad.
“We miss Keagan, and Mr Barber, every day, but we have to move on.
“We have got a nice team, and we will train plenty of winners, whether it is good enough to win a trainers’ championship who knows, but we will continue to do our best and if we do win the 15th title then it would be great.”
HURDLERS
ACT OF INNOCENCE
He ran a smart race when finishing third on his debut at a big price in the valuable Goffs Defender Bumper at the Punchestown Festival in the spring. He only weakened late on in that race and he looks a useful addition to our team this season.
The Listed bumper at the November Meeting at Cheltenham could be a good starting point for him this season. That outing will tell us whether we remain in bumpers for the rest of the season, or if we switch him to novice hurdles.
BLUEKING D’OROUX
He had a brilliant season last term and the plan for him is to start off in the Coral Hurdle again before we possibly look at the Long Walk Hurdle, which he ran a cracking race in last season to finish fifth as a four-year-old. Unfortunately, after Ascot he just cut himself, but we managed to get him back for the last day of the season to finish fourth in the Select Hurdle.
We are thinking this season we can make him into a Stayers’ Hurdle horse. He held his own in the division last season and I’m sure he can keep on producing it. He only has to improve about 8lbs to be in the mix with the top stayers. He is likely to be one that we send novice chasing in a year’s time.
CAPTAIN BELLAMY
He is ready to run and he will go novice hurdling this season over two and a half miles. He won on his debut at Chepstow last season then it didn’t quite right after that.
He had sore shins, and a few babyish little things, which meant we only saw a glimpse of what he can do. He has had a wind operation over the summer which should help him. He looked good at Chepstow when he won, but even that day he was hanging a bit, but hopefully he should develop into a nice novice hurdler. He would have to prove it to be considered a Challow Hurdle type of horse.
JUBILEE ALPHA
She was well backed to make a winning debut at Wincanton in February and thankfully she didn’t disappoint us. From there we decided to step her up steeply in class for a shot at the Grade Two bumper up at Aintree.
She ran a really good race in defeat to chase home Diva Luna that day which hopefully shows that she has a bright future. She will now go over hurdles and I think she will be well worth following in those mares’ novice hurdles throughout the season.
KALIF DU BERLAIS
He showed a high level of form as a juvenile last season on his arrival from France winning twice at Kempton, including the Grade Two Adonis Juvenile Hurdle. In the Grade One Anniversary 4-Y-O Juvenile Hurdle up at Aintree, but he was just a little outpaced that day, however it was still a solid enough run in defeat.
The likelihood is that we will go novice chasing with him this season and I would like to think he is going to take top rank switched to fences. His part owner John Hales has searched for a Gold Cup horse for a long time and hopefully in time he can develop into a contender for the race one day.
We had him at Cheltenham on Saturday, but we decided not to run him as the ground was too quick. I’ve entered him at Uttoxeter on Friday in a novices’ chase, but he will only run there if the ground is right. Like Rubaud, I might just give him a run over hurdles before going over fences as I think off 135 he has quite an attractive mark.
If I can’t find a suitable option over fences I will wait for the Gerry Feilden at Newbury.
KABRAL DU MATHAN
He is quite a nice horse. He is rated 123 and the plan is to find a nice little handicap hurdle with him in a few weeks time. He put up a smart performance to win the Chatteris Fen Juvenile Hurdle at Huntingdon on his first start for us where he was conceding 8lbs to the runner-up.
We had intended to run him in the Boodles Juvenile Handicap Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival, but unfortunately he just picked up a little injury. He is back now and he should be more than capable of winning off his current mark.
MONMIRAL
I’m going to aim him at the £100,000 three mile handicap hurdle on the support card of the Betfair Chase at Haydock Park. I thought he would run at the Cheltenham Festival, but I didn’t think he would win the Pertemps Final.
He obviously didn’t like fences, and he finished fourth in a Pertemps Qualifier needing the run. It didn’t completely surprise me how he ran at the Festival as I knew he still had that ability there. Coming down to the last I knew he was going to win as I knew he would stay on strongly.
Given what he had done in his younger days he was quite nicely in at Cheltenham. He had a few issues, but he is now very much back. We will just take things step-by-step with him.
QUEBECOIS
He won a bumper at Exeter nicely last season so we decided to roll the dice in the Champion Bumper. He finished down the field that day, but they didn’t go much of a gallop so it turned into a sprint so it didn’t really suit him.
He has got to take it to that next level over hurdles now. He will definitely get further than two miles as his half brother, Brindisi Breeze, won the Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle. I’d like to think he should have no difficulty in winning novice hurdle races over the winter.
REGENT’S STROLL
He is a very nice horse that luckily we managed to buy back when he was part of his owner’s dispersal sale back in July. The manner of his Ascot bumper win last season marked him out as an exciting recruit. He could have been aimed at Cheltenham or Aintree, but as he was eligible for the Goffs Sale bumper we went for that as it is worth a lot of money.
Given his pedigree he will need further than two miles and he could be one for the Challow Novices’ Hurdle. He is a couple of weeks off a run, but he is a gorgeous horse and he has done lots of schooling. I can’t wait to run him and I’m thrilled with the way he has progressed physically.
SAUVIGNON
He is a lovely juvenile hurdler that Johnny de la Hey has got from France. He has already had three starts over hurdles and he has shown that he is not far behind the leading juvenile hurdlers over there. On his last start over there he won a valuable Listed race at Auteuil.
There is a lot of speed in his family as really he has a Flat pedigree, but it has been encouraging to see him stay on so strongly at the end of all of his jump races. With that Listed win next to his name he will have to shoulder a penalty over here, however we would like to think he can hold his own against the juveniles in Britain.
As he had a slightly later break than a lot of the others he won’t be seen much before the new year.
TALK TO THE MAN
He is a good looking individual that created a lasting impression in his sole point-to-point start at Loughnamore in April. He was picked up the previous year at the Goffs UK Spring Sale at Doncaster which helps guide us this season.
He will more than likely follow a similar route to what Regent’s Stroll took last year. He is likely to start off in that same bumper he won at Ascot before being popped away for that valuable bumper at Newbury later in the season. I think he is a very smart prospect.
TEESHAN
We sent him to Exeter for a bumper in February and he won as easy as you like so we decided to have a go at the Champion Bumper, but he cost his chance of victory by racing too freely up front.
I had intended to run him in the Persian War Novices’ Hurdle at Chepstow, but unfortunately he has just had a little setback. He will now go novice hurdling, but he will tell us where we end up. He is a nice horse and if we get him back right I’d like to think we can run him at the end of November or somewhere around that time.
TUTTI QUANTI
He is a very nice horse that joined us from France last season. We only gave him the one run down at Taunton where he finished second behind one of Nicky Henderson’s. We decided not to run him again and keep him back for novice hurdles this season.
That has just given him time to strengthen up, and mature, and judging by the look of him he has improved a lot. I’m quite looking forward to seeing him out again.
CHASERS
BRAVEMANSGAME
Last season it was a bit of a tough one. He had a bit of a hard race in the Cheltenham Gold Cup the season before and it probably affected him more than we thought. The ground was basically soft all last season, which didn’t help him, as he is much better on a sounder surface.
The King George was probably the one race that got away from us last season as if Shishkin had not interfered with us then we would have been close. He seems fresh, and well, and the plan at the moment is to start him back in the Charlie Hall Chase, which he won two years ago, and then we will see what happens, but he will go for the King George again.
In the spring we will have a think and we might do things differently. Of course there is the Gold Cup, but if we feel we have no chance in the Gold Cup there are other options. There is the Denman Chase at Newbury and there are then the Grade One races at Aintree and Punchestown. If you have a hard race in the Gold Cup you leave the rest of the season there, and if the ground was soft I wouldn’t be keen on going.
When we schooled him recently he seemed to be right back to his best, but we won’t find out until he gets back on the track.
CALDWELL POTTER
He wasn’t quite right in the spring as he had a few little issues with his feet and we worked out a few things with him. It is easier for us to start him off from scratch now rather than get going with him halfway through the season.
He is fine now and he is going to go novice chasing this term. We schooled him before his summer break over fences and he looked like a real athlete. He will start off somewhere in November, but I’ve made no real big plans for him. I hope he will take high rank over fences.
He has only raced over two miles so far, but I’d say he would want two-and-a-half from what I have seen at home. He has got plenty of boot though and he jumps well. He is a very smart horse.
CAPTAIN TEAGUE
He is in a great place. He won the Persian War and Challow Hurdle last season, but we haven’t rushed him quite as much this time around.
He is ready to run in a novice chase in the first or second week in November. If the ground is soft he could go for the Rising Stars Novices’ Chase at Wincanton then for the Grade Two John Francome Novices’ Chase at Newbury. The race at Exeter we won last year with Stay Away Fay is over three miles and I’m not sure I want to start him over that trip straight away.
We had him ready for the Challow Hurdle to ensure he won his Grade One, but he had a few little issues with his feet in the spring which didn’t help.
We have had the likes of Bravesmangame and Stage Star fail to perform as novice hurdlers at the Cheltenham Festival and develop in to smart chasers and hopefully he will be another.
FIRE FLYER
The plan is to give him one run in a handicap hurdle at Ascot and then we will send him novice chasing. I’ve always liked him, but I don’t think we have seen the best of him yet.
I think you will see the best of him when he does jump a fence. He won two races last season, but he was very much a work in progress. We got him qualified for the EBF Hurdle Final, but the soft ground went against him.
We went back there on the final day of the season and he made a bit of a noise so we have since given him a wind operation. I still retain plenty of faith in him.
GELINO BELLO
Gelino Bello is back in after missing all of last season with a setback. We will try and find a nice three mile handicap chase for him and the one that could suit him is the Welsh Grand National Trial at Chepstow just before Christmas.
We could possibly then have a look at the Welsh National itself after that, and he will have an entry, but we just have to see how he gets on.
He needed all of that time off to get over the tendon strain he picked up, but hopefully we can now kick on and get his career back on track
GINNY’S DESTINY
He was a great horse last season. He was much improved over fences and started off just needing the run the first time out at Cheltenham. It just shows you how much horses do improve for a run. He just got sharper, fitter and better and he ended up doing really well.
The idea was to go to Newton Abbot then go to the Paddy Power Gold Cup, but the first race was unfortunately off. We will give him a racecourse gallop somewhere and then go to the Paddy Power Gold Cup. That isn’t ideal, but we are going to have to do that.
I didn’t want to give him a hard race in the Old Roan and if he ran in that and won he would go up in the weights.
He is not short of speed, but we might step him up in trip at some point this season and I might enter him in the Betfair Chase if the ground dried up a bit. He has got to progress again and take his form to another level, but he could well do that. He could be a Grade One winner in waiting as he has been second in two Grade Ones before. We are hoping that he has improved.
HITMAN
He has run some good races without winning. His form when he split Shishkin and Protektorat in the Denman Chase at Newbury was a very good effort. He is the sort you run in all those good two-and-a-half mile and three mile races. He will pick up good prize money along the way and he will pick up one of those races one day.
He is in good shape at the moment, but he is probably is one of the biggest enigmas that I’ve had. He is a good fun horse to have about. He does deserve to get a nice win next to his name. He ran well on his comeback in the Old Roan Chase at Aintree on Sunday and the plan is to now go back up to three miles for the Betfair Chase.
INCH HOUSE
We intend to start him off at Ascot in a £100,000 three mile handicap chase this weekend. I don’t know that much about him as I didn’t have him all that early.
His form tailed off a bit at the end of last season, but he won two nice races for Jonjo O’Neill earlier on in the season. I’ve had a job getting him ready, but he is a nice horse to have on the team. He will definitely have an entry in the Coral Gold Cup at Newbury.
INSURRECTION
He was very impressive on his first start over hurdles then he found the heavy ground against him in the Winter Novices’ Hurdle at Sandown then he was beaten by Golden Ace. He was below his best when finishing last at Exeter, before winning a small race at Hereford.
He ran very nicely on his debut over fences in a Listed race at Chepstow. I’ve been second in that race a lot of times and plenty of horses that have then gone on and won the Rising Stars Novices’ Chase at Wincanton.
He will go for that if the ground is good, but if it's soft he won’t. The horse that beat him at Chepstow was rated much higher than him so it was a solid run and he jumped well. I’m not sure he is quite a Grade One winner in waiting, but who knows.
INTHEWATERSIDE
He is a nice horse and the plan is to now go novice chasing. He was a tad frustrating last season as he was a bit keen and he was still a bit babyish, but we have always looked forward to going over fences with him. In saying that he still managed to win two novice hurdles.
He was getting a bit stressy for most of last season and I think this was down to his breathing so we have given him a wind operation over the summer. He will be a good horse.
ISAAC DES OBEAUX
At one point last season it looked like he might develop into a graded novice hurdler, but it didn’t quite happen, however he was far from the finished article. Hopefully the patience we have shown in him will be rewarded. He needed his run the other day at Chepstow on his debut over fences. They went a fair old gallop, but the ground simply wasn’t soft enough for him.
He jumped nicely on his introduction over fences and will win plenty of novice chases. He has got to take a step up to be a top horse, but I think he will be a nice staying chaser in the future.
MOFASA
This one goes straight for the Badger Beer Chase at Wincanton. He looked set for a solid season over fences last season, but it never really happened after he won well at Huntingdon on his second start over fences.
He had a wind operation midway through the campaign and I don’t think he quite got over that. He goes very well fresh, and he is brilliant going right handed, plus he needs decent ground so I’ve trained him just for the Badger Beer. We’ve won the race 11 times before and hopefully he can give us another triumph in the race.
OUTLAW PETER
He might well go for the Grand Sefton over the Grand National fences at Aintree early on in November as he jumps so well. He took really well to fences last season and his three wins were all by short margins so it meant he stayed on the right side of the handicapper.
Although he copes with soft ground he is probably best suited by a sounder surface. He will be a fun horse in those two-and-a-half mile chases. He might have an entry in the Paddy Power Gold Cup just in case, but I’m leaning more towards the Grand Sefton.
PIC D’ORHY
He has been a great horse and he really loves Ascot. He will be going back there in November for the 1965 Chase which he won last year. You then look at races like the Peterborough Chase and Silviniaco Conti after that before going back to the Ascot Chase again. There are plenty of races in the programme book for him.
He is a very versatile and classy horse that is just shy of being a top Grade One horse, but he is still a very smart animal. The Ascot Chase and the Melling Chase are his two Grade One races this season.
He won a Betfair Hurdle, but then he had a few issues with his jumping. When he won the Grade One at Ascot last season he was very good with his jumping. He is a pleasure to train and you wouldn’t mind a yard like him.
RUBAUD
He won well at Kempton in the Listed race he won last year and the plan is to give him one more run over hurdles in the Elite Hurdle at Wincanton and then we will go novice chasing with him.
I was going to start him off over fences, but the race I wanted to go to at Newton Abbot was called off so we decided to go back to Kempton as we didn’t really have anywhere else to go. He has schooled well at home and if he takes to fences then he could be a nice one to have in that two mile division this season.
SANS BRUIT
He is an interesting horse and the plan is to go straight to the Haldon Gold Cup with him. He came in from France looking terrible. He was so light and I couldn’t train him until the spring. He then went up to Aintree and he won under a good front running by Bryony Frost. He had no weight on his back so it made sense to go and do that. The race up at Ayr just came a bit too soon and he didn’t jump with as much fluency as he did at Aintree off a 10lb higher mark.
He has had a good summer out and he has come back in a completely different horse. I’m hoping he might well have improved a bit.
SOLO
He could well start off in the Haldon Gold Cup if it was soft, but really he needs a step up in trip now. He was frustrating last season, but that is just him.
After he was second in the Haldon Gold Cup he was then below his best in a graduation chase at Ascot and we then found he bled on what was his final start at Newbury. He won a couple of Grade Two races in the past, but I’m not sure if he is quite up to races like the Peterborough Chase now, however hopefully he will get his head back in front at some point.
STAGE STAR
He has got to go left handed, which doesn’t help too much, and he is rated 163 so it makes him hard to place.
It was a brilliant run off a big weight in the Paddy Power Gold Cup last year, but we set the race up for Protektorat in the Ryanair Chase after that as he went a good gallop in front and Protektorat followed us all the way. I’m looking forward to running him over three miles at some point. I’m definitely going to enter him over at Leopardstown over Christmas. It would suit him over there, but he will have to take on all those weapons of Willie Mullins'.
He is the sort that could run in something like a Denman Chase in the second half of the season. I’m sure three miles will suit him well. He will tell us if we should go for the Ryanair or even have a tilt at the Gold Cup.
I’d love to run him in a King George, or something like that, and one day we will have to be brave and run him right handed, but he definitely jumps a bit left.
Harry (Cobden) said he didn’t run too badly in the Old Roan Chase at Aintree on Sunday as he was only beaten just over three lengths, but I’m not convinced he was quite at his best. Whether that was down to the ground, or because he slightly sulked, I’m not sure.
He will have an entry in the Paddy Power Gold Cup, which he won last year off 155 and it might be worth giving him an entry in the Coral Gold Cup as well.
STAY AWAY FAY
He was another one we were delighted to get back at his owner’s dispersal sale in July. His new owners got him as they like the idea that he could be a Grand National horse in time whether that is this season, or next season. He will have an entry for the Coral Gold Cup at Newbury, but I wouldn’t be worried if I started him in the Long Distance Hurdle at Newbury first time out and work back from the Grand National.
He started of well over fences last season winning down at Exeter and the new Grade Two novices’ chase at Sandown, but he then lost his way a little bit in the spring. He made a mistake in the Cotswold Chase at the top of the hill, when he landed on the ditch, and he just lost his confidence a bit after that.
He scoped dirty after the Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase at the Cheltenham Festival, but he got over that and we ran him in the Scottish Grand National up at Ayr. However, he was struggling with his breathing so Harry (Cobden) pulled him up. He has had a wind operation over the summer so hopefully that will have a positive effect.
TAHMURAS
He is going to go to Haydock on Betfair Chase day for the graduation chase which we have won before and then we will work out which way to go from there. He will have entries in races like the December Gold Cup at Cheltenham.
He was slightly frustrating over fences last season. He ran some good races, without winning them, but that is just him. He is a Tolworth Hurdle winner and he will win a big pot over fences one day. He had a slight setback after the Pendil last season, but he is absolutely fine now. I’m sure he will get three miles as well at some point.
Small fields I don’t think necessarily suit him. I think in those big field handicaps he can just follow his way through the field. He will be hard to beat first time out and that race at Haydock is a good starting point
THREEUNDERTHRUFIVE
The idea is to work him back from the Grand National this season. He could come back in the Badger Beer Chase down at Wincanton, but he is probably not quite ready for that.
Last season our objective was to win a decent staying handicap chase with him and after a couple of near misses he duly obliged in a £100,000 race at Ascot in February. It was an easy decision to miss the Grand National last season as Harry (Cobden) thought it was a year too soon for him.
He should be well suited by a race like that though as he has previously shown he likes a real stamina test after finishing fourth in the Scottish Grand National.
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