Rewind back 10-15 years ago and jump racing trainer, Paul Nicholls was considered as one of the best trainers in jump racing – I remember this well.
While he can still be considered as somewhat of a legacy, in the last couple of years, he has seen prominent Irish trainer Willie Mullins come into the spotlight.
Despite this, his consistency cannot be argued with. Last term, he broke the £2 million mark in prize money for the 23rd successive season.
What Has Been Nicholls’ Best Success?
You simply cannot argue with the era where he had both Kauto Star, Denman and even Big Bucks who regularly delivered Grade 1 wins for him and ensured he was the supreme British trainer on a consistent basis. In fact, I backed each of them and won numerous times.
Add to that, the fact that he had talented jockeys, AP McCoy, Ruby Walsh, Sam Thomas and Daryl Jacob preforming for him and, it is hard to argue about his record. Personally, I always looked out for Walsh – just knowing that nine times out of 10 he would deliver a winner.
In what was arguably one of the best Cheltenham Gold Cup’s in recent times, Thomas rode Denman to victory in 2008 in what was a famous 1-2-3 for Nicholls, with the irrepressible Kauto Star finishing second and Neptune Collonges completing his trio of places.
While Nicholls does still have a great stable jockey in Harry Cobden, who won the British Jockey’s Championship the season before last, the number of notable wins in terms of races with significant prize money on offer has dwindled. This is where Mullins has really come to the fore.
Bravemansgame is the horse that has really come close to replicating the success of Kauto Star or Denman in recent years (though I think he’s still some way off Mullins’ top stars), finishing second in the 2022/23 Cheltenham Gold Cup. Despite winning the King George VI Chase, this race isn’t quite on the same level.
Can Nicholls Make A Comeback?
Whether Nicholls is able to replicate the success that he was enjoying almost 20 years ago depends on a number of factors.
He really needs to be working with top calibre Grade 1 level horses, much the same as Mullins is doing right now – indeed, there have been suggestions that he simply cannot attract top, youg horses anymore, due to changes in ownership, which has had an impact on the quality at Ditcheat, which I think is a shame.
It has also been hard for Nicholls to replicate the type of quality jockeys that he had back in the golden years – while I like Cobden (he clearly is a top talent), he doesn’t come close to the likes of McCoy or Walsh. To be fair, he is still only 26 and has a bright future.
I’m intrigued by the next few years in terms of what will happen and whether we see Nicholls coming close to Mullins, but there are some fundamentals that he needs to establish again first.
