Trainer Paul Nicholls talks through his big team for the Cheltenham Festival, inculding former Queen Mother Champion Chase hero Dodging Bullets who is in line for a crack at the grand Annual.
While he may be lacking ammunition in the five main championship races over the four days, Tuesday, March 14 to Friday, March 17, the 10-time champion Jump trainer in Britain spoke encouragingly about many of his charges at a media stable visit organised by Cheltenham Racecourse to Manor Farm Stables, Ditcheat, Somerset..
He is leading the way again in the trainers’ championship and is keen to hang on to the advantage he has built up.
The news of Thistlecrack’s defection from the Timico Cheltenham Gold Cup broke as Nicholls was finishing off his eighth of nine one-to-one interviews with broadcast media yesterday.
He sympathised with the connections of Thistlecrack, who is trained by Colin Tizzard: “It is sad for Colin and the owners – a blow to everyone. I am sure Thistlecrack will be back.
“It is a nightmare, a lots of things can happen to horses between now and The Festival. These horses are athletes and there are always going to be training problems. You get niggles and injuries when you are pressing buttons. It is in the lap of the gods – you are always on edge.”
The one Nicholls contender for the Timico Cheltenham Gold Cup, a race he has won four times, is eight-year-old Saphir Du Rheu who enjoyed an easy victory in the Ivan Straker Memorial Chase at Kelso earlier this month.
The trainer said: “He is back on track and won nicely at Kelso the other day and before that ran really well at Cheltenham, when second (in the Hugo’s Restaurant Barbados Trophy Handicap Chase (2m 5f) under a big weight on January 28) over an inadequate trip.
“He fell in the Hennessy when I thought he had a big chance and that might have just woken him up. He had a fairly bad fall and everything galloped over him.
“Since that day, he has jumped very, very well. If he can jump and get his act together, he is a good horse. I am not saying he is going to win a Gold Cup.
“Andy (Stewart), his owner, had a decent chaser called My Will a few years ago, probably not as good as Saphir Du Rheu, and he ended up finishing fourth in the Gold Cup.
“You never know, Saphir Du Rheu could pick up some crumbs in the Gold Cup and get placed now. He deserves to be in the race’s line-up.
“We thought he would be a superstar when he won a Grade One at Aintree (in April, 2015) but he lost his way a little bit. He has plenty of ability and we have not seen the best of him yet.”
Nicholls highlighted others such as Movewiththetimes, the recent second in the valuable Betfair Hurdle at Newbury.
He explained: “Movewithetimes is a progressive horse and ran a really good race in the Betfair Hurdle. There are lots of option for him at The Festival and we don’t know which race he will be going for at the moment.
“We have always thought he was a very classy horse and I am looking forward to him jumping fences in the future. He still lacks a bit of experience – running a bit green from the last at Newbury which was only his fourth run.
“He could go for the Sky Bet Supreme Novices’ Hurdle (the opening race at The Festival) and I don’t think there is a lot of difference between him and my previous winners of the race, Noland (2006) and Al Ferof (2011). They were rated about the same, 146, and he compares favourably with them.
“Politologue is very well and he goes for the JLT Novices’ Chase after a good preparation. He won well at Kempton the other day and has a leading chance. We always thought he would make into a nice chaser and he did really well from run to run. He jumps very nicely and is rated 152 which is a real smart mark for a novice over fences and Cheltenham has been the aim all season.
“I had not thought of entering Dreamcatching at The Festival before he won on Saturday but he is now in the Fred Winter Juvenile Novices’ Handicap Hurdle and is not unlike the horses we have won the race with for the last two years, Diego Du Charmil (2016) and Qualando (2015). He has a progressive profile.
“I thought he would go well at Kempton at Christmas – he had been third on his only start at Auteuil. We rode him completely wrong at Kempton, thinking he was a stayer and he ran free and did not get home. Though, also I am convinced he wasn’t right that day. He was a different horse at Wincanton on Saturday, bolting in, and could not have been more impressive.
“Zarkandar has done nothing but improve since he had a wind operation at Christmas. I say wind op – we cauterized his palate – just tweaked it and he seems to be fine after his Haydock Park win on Saturday. The Stayers’ Hurdle will be different type of race but he is definitely in the mix.
“Dodging Bullets won the Champion Chase two years ago but has struggled since and is not as good as he was. He has dropped down to a mark of 151 and he is going to run in the Grand Annual – the race will suit him quite nicely – there is no point running him in Grade Ones at the moment and we want to try him in a handicap. He has come out the Newbury race very well.
“El Bandit has several entries but is being aimed at the Pertemps Network Final and he won four or five on the trot in the autumn. He won the qualifier at Edinburgh (Musselburgh) the other day, surprising us as we did not think he was really ready. He went up 4lb for that and he has to go forward again, but he is a very progressive horse.
“Coillte Lass has also been really progressive – she won her first three starts and then was third to Vroom Vroom Mag at level weights at Doncaster. It is great for Ditcheat Thoroughbreds to have a runner with a live chance at The Festival in their first year of operation. She is one of the best novice mares and will go for the Trull Houses Stud Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle.”