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Well, that’s a savage kick in the nuts for Nicholls. I understand wanting to branch out and send some young horses to Skelton et al, but I really don’t see the point in moving the 11 year old Pic d’Orhy, for example. I think Nicholls did really well with him (and Cyrname), I can’t think of any races he should have won with them and didn’t. In fact, looking at all the horses in those colours currently, I don’t see any that ought to be grade 1 superstars that the trainer has ballsed up. I suppose we never know what goes on behind closed doors etc, and time will tell if other trainers shape one of them into a superstar, but I feel sorry for Nicholls.
As you say, we don’t know what may or may not have been said.
Maybe the owner simply felt it was time for a change? Or is unhappy with the jockey situation at Ditcheat with Cobden departing?
Or it could just be a case of the owner wanting to be with the most successful trainer, which Nicholls was when he first had horses with him but he isn’t now.
De la Hey isn’t the first high profile owner Nicholls has lost recently. He will still have a few decent horses via McNeill, Ferguson/Mason etc. But it is very difficult to see him getting back to the level he was at before.
Very harsh on him taking out 11yr old Pic d’Orh. Similar happened end last summer when old park star etc where relocated to Henderson.
But it could be made a positive if those empty stables where filled with fresh news stars, we can only hopeVf x
Their eleven horses ran 37 times and won six races during the 25/26 campaign. The prize money was rather mediocre with £300,800.
40 winners from 187 runners in the past five years doesn’t scream much talent among the horses, imo.
With £1,650,839 earned over that same period I doubt they have covered half of their monthly training costs. But what did they really purchase?Why would they jump on the Skelton bandwagon with such mediocre horses? I mean he could be a bit more expensive than Nicholls as well. I think when the day comes with Mason and Ferguson leaving, he’ll be considering retirement.
It seems there are an increasing number of owners who will only have their horses with the perceived “best” trainer, and absolutely nobody else. I suspect we may be at the start of a long period of Skelton dominance as a result.
Nicholls doesn’t have many big owners left now. There’s got to be an issue as no other yard is losing their best owners year after year like he has been this past 3 or 4 years.
There’s always been reports he’s difficult to work with/for. Maybe Megan is taking on a bigger role in the yard also and she doesn’t exactly strike me as someone who’d be easy to work with either.
I remember Henry Cecil hitting rock bottom in the 90/00s when Sheikh Mohammed pulled his horses from his stable and along with personal tragedies like his brother dying and ill health. I never thought he could get back up but he did when Light Shift won the Oaks and of course his superb handling of Frankel. He went for years without a Group 1 winner and dropped into the 90s of the trainers table.
The more I know the less I understand.
Cecil still had the support of owners such as the Niarchos Family and Khaled Abdullah/Juddmonte. Even at his lowest point, there was a chance he would train something good again.
Nicholls has very few big owners left. One or two for the McNeill Family and the Ferguson/Mason team.
Who else? McManus doesn’t seem to send him anything now. He has nothing from the owners Mullins and Elliott have.
He was nowhere to be seen at Cheltenham and he didn’t even have a good Aintree this year.
Not sure this is such a massive blow as Pic D’Orhy (their most high profile horse) is long in the tooth now at 11 and outside of the G2 1965 Chase and G1 Ascot Chase (which he was beaten in both this past season having won both the year before) he is exposed at G1 level and I very much doubt he will do much as a 12 year old (probably his last season racing too).
For the last few seasons Nicholls is really missing that marquee horse(s) and I would imagine that No Drama This End (owned by McNeill Family And Chris & Giles Barber) will be the horse he has his hopes set on (as a novice chaser next season and beyond). He is still in the top 4 trainers regularly even though he hasn’t had a big named horse to spearhead his challenge over that period, so I think he is only missing that vital part of the puzzle that when/if found will see him up there challenging more seriously for a title again.
Lets face it, as incredible a season as Skelton had, it will be even harder to replicate it going forward as it is very rare to have most if not all of your yard contributing in such a way again. Last season he had 194 individual winners (from 1026 runners) but just as impressive is the fact that he also had 148 second place horses, 140 3rd place horses and 128 4th placed horses too.
I find it hard to imagine that he can keep that kind of consistency going especially given that you are only one or two injuries to your best horses short of falling from that lofty height.
Agree CAS. And what I find quite strange is that the likes of Ricci, McManus, the Connellys or even Cheveley Park Stud never seem to consider sending him anything. I mean there have been some empty boxes at Ditcheat over the past 3-4 years and yet no move from the above mentioned connections.
John Hales was the main and most reliable owner he had during his entire career and I think he is/was the reason why Ferguson and Mason are still around. But, for how long?McManus had the enigmatic Mr Mole with Nicholls a few years ago. He may have had one or two others with him. But the other owners who regularly have winners in the big races at the festivals have nothing at Ditcheat.
“There’s always been reports he’s difficult to work with/for.”
I expect a few jockeys would agree.
It was strange that Clive Smith only had a short-lived partnership with him. Kauto Star, Masterminded and Royal Auclair were the only three horses he had at Ditcheat, right?
Nicholls had a very public falling out with Smith after Kauto Star retired. I think that relationship was beyond salvaging after that.
Maybe what Nicholls needs is a buffer , shouldn’t be forgotten he also trained up Harry Fry , he’s a man who knows the time of day
Pick 3 on Saturday champion 2025/2026
”It was strange that Clive Smith only had a short-lived partnership with him. Kauto Star, Masterminded and Royal Auclair were the only three horses he had at Ditcheat, right?”
They had a massive fall out shortly after Kauto’s retirement with neither Nicholls or Smith coming across well regards the situation.
Smith put Kauto back into training again for dressage and he ended up getting badly injured and dying young. I always disliked him after that as no horse deserved a nice easy retirement more than Kauto. He’d given absolutely everything on the track.
I hated the thought of an old warrior like him having to be retrained for dressage.Nicholls had apparently been charging visitors and tourists to see Kauto in the short time he spent at Ditcheat post retirement. Smith was really angry at this but Paul said all the proceeds were going to charity.
Nicholls had initially wanted Clifford Baker to be allowed to keep the horse but Smith was having none of it so Nicholls told him take the horse away to Breisner for retraining.Nicholls never forgave Smith after what happened with Kauto and said he’d never train for him again. I’m guessing other top trainers may have shared the same opinion as I can’t remember another Smith owned horse after that period.
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