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Another prickly interview yesterday from PN after Kauto Star’s King George victory, following on from Tingle Creek day, when Nicholls was furious that anyone had dared to criticise Master Minded..
It is about time that Nicholls realised that the whole sport revolves around people having different opinions about horses. Without them there would be no betting markets and no prize money.
Yes, he can stick the proverbial two fingers up to the doubters when his horses win impressively, but he absolutely should not try to stifle people offering strong views on the sport that may differ from his own. There is already far too much fawning to trainers and owners in the sport from the press. God help us if this cosiness is extended to a complete ban on the questioning of a horse’s ability.
Completely agree – there are still too many arrogant, over sensitive, prima donnas in this sport and they can be found across the ranks of trainers, jockeys, media – indeed anywhere in the sport.
Times are changing fortunately and there certainly are fewer than there were – but still far too many.
Nicholls strikes me as being a tad hypocritical – he is more than happy to use his Racing Post column to bang his own drum (and, of course, set his own agenda) yet he seems to think this “openness” should leave him immune to criticism.
However I don’t think he is anywhere near being the worst in the arrogance stakes.
Personally I think he has been less than professional often enough for racing fans to voice their opinions. He’s a big man and should be able to take it on the chin when he messes up witjhout the two finger salute coming into play.
He was way out of order when he opened his big mouth at Ascot last year and had everyone in a panic over Kauto’s participation in the Gold Cup.
He was out of order when he ran the horse at Aintree after that gruesome race in the gold cup.
He was out of order when he ran the horse at Haydock when he wasn’t right and said nothing until weeks after.
He sat back while the press wrote article after article on how Kauto the french bed was past his best, finished, not the same horse etc and he said nothing.
Then a few days before the race he says I made a mistake running him at Haydock he wasn’t over his race in Ireland…sticks his fingers up and says stuff you lot that said he was finished………he’s the one that led fans to believe that he was finished by keeping quiet
Clever man big Paul…..if you can’t see through him
All that aside the man just won a 3rd King George with Kauto Star and there is every possibility he will win a 4th which would be an awsome feat.
With genius come arrogance they say so I would imagine if he read this thread he wouldn’t give a rats ass what I or anyone else thinks:lol:
II do understand Nicholls’ frustrations but I do agree with the points made above though I wouldn’t hammer the guy for it. He takes things to heart and it hurts when his pride and joys are (often unfairly) criticised. He should however rise above it and respect that people have opinions to which they are entitled.
The one thing I really don’t like is Nicholls’ public critcism of Sam Thomas whether he /you /we believe it justified or not. You publically support those "within your team" critisism should be left in house IMO.
The vast majority of the time, I like Paul Nicholls. He is a fine trainer, and the fact that such a skilled handler receives so many of the best horses means that we enjoy a great depth of high-quality performers coming from Ditcheat, which is great for the sport.
However, the one thing I don’t like is the sourness with which he meets defeat. When was the last time a Nicholls horse was beaten on merit, if you were to believe the trainer? I know sportspeople/coaches must be a determined and competitive type, but the public lack of grace with which Paul Nicholls sometimes accepts losses acts as a blot on his copy book IMO.He has the best owners, the richest owners and the best bloodstock agent, best staff etc.
He is a top class trainer but he doesn’t half go on about it when they get beat.
Does anyone really believe that the fences beat Kauto at Haydock?
PN doesn’t seem to think so – not anymore at least, apparently it was the jockey who got Kauto beat. His story changes from one day to the next.
Definitely a brilliant trainer but can’t stand the chap myself for reasons already mentioned.
Think he’s been taking advice on more than just jockey bookings from his pal Alex lately.
A surperb trainer, but dont give it if you cant take it imo.
Spot on Cav, his public whining has more than a little of the Fergies about it.
Did he give Sam Thomas the "hair-dryer" after Kuato, one wonders….The funny thing about the Sam Thomas/Kauto incident was that Nicholls seemed to be suggesting that Thomas should have gone on on the beast. However, rewind to Aintree and Ruby was furious with Nicholls for instructing him to take it up on the horse – and both claimed it led to his defeat.
The funny thing about the Sam Thomas/Kauto incident was that Nicholls seemed to be suggesting that Thomas should have gone on on the beast. However, rewind to Aintree and Ruby was furious with Nicholls for instructing him to take it up on the horse – and both claimed it led to his defeat.
Yeah, and Denman is a possible for Haydock despite the track being too tight and speedy for Kauto Star?!?
I like Nicholls, alot, but like everyone else I do not think he knows what happened Kauto Star at Haydock and simply picking excuses out of the sky does him or his horses no justice.
He was quick to comment on the relative merits (negatively) of Master Minded’s rivals before the Tingle Creek.
I agree with everything said so far, but at the same time I like paul nicholls, he is very forthcoming and is generally quite media savvy. He has a slot on teletext and a spot in the racing postletting people know about his runners every saturday and which one’s he fancies.
I think he lets himself get wound up though, when people question his horses though, and especially his best ones. I think his attitude is the old "If I throw you a bone I dont want to know if it tastes good". I think it must wind him up when he is telling everyone that there were excuses at haydock and kauto is looking to be back to his best ahead of the king george, yet everytime he reads the racing post (which it is clear he does read) and almost everyone is slating his horse.
Didnt segal say something like "Kauto star is out of form more than he’s in, and has to be taken on". Nicholls comes across to me as the sort of person who would take that to heart, and was probably speaking on the behalf of his owners yesterday.
Beside’s its more entertaining to see Ruby or Nicholls kicking off than listening to tommo, or watching the beeb show repeats of Rishi persad breakdancing at ascot for the 100th time.
Actually, did anyone hear Gary Wiltshire ask Rishi Persad if he enjoyed his Christmas Vindaloo, to which Rishi uncomfortably replied that he had turkey. BIT RACIST, may spark a letter or two to points of view.
I agree with everything said so far, but at the same time I like paul nicholls, he is very forthcoming and is generally quite media savvy. He has a slot on teletext and a spot in the racing postletting people know about his runners every saturday and which one’s he fancies.
I think he lets himself get wound up though, when people question his horses though, and especially his best ones. I think his attitude is the old "If I throw you a bone I dont want to know if it tastes good". I think it must wind him up when he is telling everyone that there were excuses at haydock and kauto is looking to be back to his best ahead of the king george, yet everytime he reads the racing post (which it is clear he does read) and almost everyone is slating his horse.
Didnt segal say something like "Kauto star is out of form more than he’s in, and has to be taken on". Nicholls comes across to me as the sort of person who would take that to heart, and was probably speaking on the behalf of his owners yesterday.
Beside’s its more entertaining to see Ruby or Nicholls kicking off than listening to tommo, or watching the beeb show repeats of Rishi persad breakdancing at ascot for the 100th time.
[b:3ecp5sxz]Actually, did anyone hear Gary Wiltshire ask Rishi Persad if he enjoyed his Christmas Vindaloo, to which Rishi uncomfortably replied that he had turkey. BIT RACIST, may spark a letter or two to points of view.[/[/b:3ecp5sxz]quote]
How is that racist? I don’t want to get into a political rant but things like this REALLY wind me up.
Racist my ****, unless one deliberately wants it to be racist.
Can’t breathe nowadays.
How is that racist? I don’t want to get into a political rant but things like this REALLY wind me up.
Because you are stereotyping someone because of the colour of their skin, IMO to ask someone if they had a vindaloo for their christmas dinner is actually quite ignorant, because the actual joke he is making is "you lot do your thing and we do ours". Its one of those remarks deserving of a punch in the face like asking a scouser if they got their christmas presents "stole to order", or asking a black person if they got any spears for christmas.
I personally didnt take offense to his remark but I knew straight away that if I said something like that in work, I’d be on a written warning, and swiftly attending an equal opps course, let alone saying it on national terrestrial tv. I dont need to take offence to it to realise that others might do.
Actually, did anyone hear Gary Wiltshire ask Rishi Persad if he enjoyed his Christmas Vindaloo, to which Rishi uncomfortably replied that he had turkey. BIT RACIST, may spark a letter or two to points of view.
Could be wrong Bulwark but would be surprised if it wasn’t in the script and had been cleared with Rishi beforehand.
Don’t really have a problem with Nicholls moaning, we all try to protect out own, I do with the likes of Alastair (know all after the event) Down though.
All the clever dicks come out after the event saying Kauto shouldn’t have run at Aintree and shouldn’t have run at Haydock but he only just got collared at Aintree and aren’t horses for racing, it seems some would sooner see them wrapped up in cotton wool for most of the season?I do not take much notice what a trainer thinks about his own horses. They are bound to be biased and it is only natural to make excuses about your children.
I mean, does anyone (apart from Fist and Nicholls) think the Betfair Chase came too soon after a jog around Down Royal? The break between Kauto’s Tingle Creek and King George was two days more.
Bosranic made a comment immediately after the Betfair criticising Thomas, which at the time I had no time for. But on a horse who naturally jumps left, it may have been the wrong thing to do, to go up the inner. Where the rail is some way from the wing. Such a horse can collide with the corner (upright bushy thing). So I do think Bos and Nicholls had a point about Sam’s ride. Though not the reason for defeat. More like it being the start of a lull in stable form. Had an awful day and steadily got worse until picking up a few days ago. Not many trainers would say “my horses are not running well”. But may be that was the real reason PN now says he should not have run Kauto Star.
You have only got to see Fist’s comments to see, a trainer is damned if he says something damned if he does not. It was somehow wrong he did not come out and say the horse was not right before the Betfair (when he probably did not know at the time). Yet wrong that he did say something after the Ascot Chase, warning punters of a possible injury. News that would have got out anyway on the exchanges.
Trainers, owners and jockeys are entitled to their opinion, whatever it is. So too is Tom Segal. Don’t think PN is any more biased than the rest of them, just interviewed more.
Mark
Value Is EverythingThe thing about Nicholls is that you get a sense from him that he probably always thinks he knows better.
We can only judge what we see on the racecourse and, with three defeats from his last four, it was perfectly reasonable for people to question whether we’d seen the best of Kauto Star. How were we to know that PN was making all those ‘mistakes’ with the horse.
He does know how to spot them, buy them, train them and place them though. Seems to be pretty adept at keeping the owners onside too.
I’d like to see an interviewer giving him a bit of a hard time though, I reckon it’d make good viewing as I suspect that, when cornered, Mr N comes out fighting.
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