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Never heard his name mentioned both days, horses ran like yaks, ‘Favorito Bucks’ was too bad to be true, is it really going that wrong for Nicholl’s, or has the Karma Bus just drawn up outside Ditcheat. Either way, i’ve never seen him have a run of dire luck like this. I’ve posted about the lack of buying power with Tom Malone and not Highflyer and Twiston Davies not being top notch in the schooling ranks like Walsh, but he has nothing in the running for the top races at Cheltenham. Its time he stepped forward and said something, he’s always had plenty to say in the past.
The only Nicholls this will be a good Christmas for is Nichols Canyon!!
His horses are running awful and I hope the blame for that won’t be left at Sam twiston davies’ door. He just doesn’t seem to get the top class young horses because Mullins is a better judge when it comes to buying them it appearsSomewhat sneering posts based on not a lot
He’s top of trainers table and I think the real story is hendersons collapse to ninth. I like Nicky but he’s having a very lean time.
As for “saying something”. Like what exactly?
Can’t pick young horses? Think past record somewhat blows that comment away. Just a bit.
For me there is no better trained of jumpers. No trainer comes close to his repeated ability to keep them at top of game and bring them back after setbacks. That to me sets him apart from the rest
Where did I say he couldn’t pick young horses. I said ‘lack of buying power’ quite different.
Clearly they agree this from the RP
Derham wrote: “Following a really happy and satisfying Christmas day, sadly [the] hasn’t been a great deal of subsequent Christmas cheer at Ditcheat.“For reasons we haven’t yet found, the majority of our horses are performing at a level lower than expected, something which is giving us plenty to ponder.
“The frustrating thing is that, although some are running below par, as a group they look fantastic and nothing obvious is coming to light.”
He added: “On the back of a season beyond anyone’s wildest dreams things were always going to be difficult to reproduce, but rest assured we are all doing our absolute best to make sure the horses will return to form before long.”
…or has the Karma Bus just drawn up outside Ditcheat.
Nominations for those aboard that bus?
Sam Thomas
Daryl Jacob
Clive Smith
?Welcome acknowledgment from Derham anyway. I like the thought of the karma bus but not sure those mentioned would have a lot to crow about
From Today’s RP
CHAMPION TRAINER Paul Nicholls on Tuesday said there was no cause for alarm about the recent form of his team as he continued through the Christmas holiday without a victory to his name.
Nicholls said there is nothing wrong with the health of his stable and he is confident fortunes will improve in the near future after going winless at Kempton’s two-day festive fixture for the first time since 2004.
The stable, which had four seconds at Newbury on Tuesday, sent out its last winner on December 19, though Nicholls remains £200,000 clear of his nearest rival Philip Hobbs in the trainers’ championship, with more than £1 million in prize-money for the campaign, and is 1-3 with bet365 and Betfred to retain his crown.
‘Just a quiet spell’
“Everyone expects us to be winning all the time and we can’t always be winning,” said Nicholls.
“Nothing is wrong and I’m top of the trainers’ table. We’re just having one of those quiet spells.
“I didn’t have a winner at Kempton this year, but in the last ten years there I’ve won seven King Georges. I just haven’t quite got some of those horses.
“I just smile to myself that I’ve been very lucky to have had a brilliant time at those big meetings.”
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In numbers: Paul Nicholls in December
SEASON WINS RUNS STRIKE-RATE
2011-12 20 95 21%
2012-13 17 66 26%
2013-14 20 92 22%
2014-15 19 80 24%
2015-16 9 90 10%
________________________________________
Nicholls added: “We’ve lots of horses to run in the spring that want better ground. One or two aren’t performing quite at their best and some aren’t good enough, it’s as simple as that.
“We’re very open. If we had horses that were sick we’d say so, but that’s not the case. It’s been a bit frustrating but we’ll be fine.”
Derham hints at concern
Nicholls’ nephew and pupil assistant Harry Derham on Monday highlighted some concern over the yard’s form in his blog.
He wrote: “For reasons we haven’t yet found, the majority of our horses are performing at a level lower than expected, something which is giving us plenty to ponder.
“The frustrating thing is that although some are running below par, as a group they look fantastic and nothing obvious is coming to light.”Has Nicholls turned the corner ?
5 winners in 2016
Shall be taking a close look at his runners tomorrow
Modus just beaten comfortably
Didn’t do his Betfair Hurdle weight any harm. 😉
Value Is EverythingHas Nicholls turned the corner ?
5 winners in 2016
Shall be taking a close look at his runners tomorrow
In good form now.
Value Is EverythingYou saw before Christmas how Reb Curtis’s team were affected by a bad batch of feed – knocked them out for 6 weeks, but they’ve got over it quick enough.
Wouldn’t be surprised if something similar has happened down at Ditcheat.
You saw before Christmas how Reb Curtis’s team were affected by a bad batch of feed – knocked them out for 6 weeks, but they’ve got over it quick enough.
Wouldn’t be surprised if something similar has happened down at Ditcheat.
Same thing has happened to Jackdaw’s Castle.
Think people tend to search for reasons of terminal decline when it’s just either poor batch of feed or a virus. Although Jonjo’s form seems to dip in the Winter and come good in the Spring. Can’t remember where I heard it from but someone said it could be something to do with the valley/weather conditions at Jackdaw’s.
Trainers in and out of form is a great help to punters. Doesn’t really matter why they are in or out of form, just enough to know they are. Do believe the Nicholls yard wasn’t quite right, quite a few moving well through the race without finding as much as seemed likely. However, Nicholls wasn’t in quite as bad form as his win strike rate made out. In that time his place SR being better than his average place SR. Also, Nicholls tends to go through a short lean spell in January and it’s possible this came sooner than usual.
Value Is EverythingSomewhat sneering posts based on not a lot
He’s top of trainers table and I think the real story is hendersons collapse to ninth. I like Nicky but he’s having a very lean time.
As for “saying something”. Like what exactly?
Can’t pick young horses? Think past record somewhat blows that comment away. Just a bit.
For me there is no better trained of jumpers. No trainer comes close to his repeated ability to keep them at top of game and bring them back after setbacks. That to me sets him apart from the rest
Henderson had 32 runners in December – 69 and 86 the two previous seasons
The lack of handicap chasers in the yard is a joke, really, and they’ve won only 11 chases all season and it’s not a recent problem. Lack of planning seems to be an issue since the days when Spinter Sacre, Bobs Worth, Riverside Theatre, Finian’s Rainbow etc were consistently winning big races
He’s my favourite trainer so i’d be much happier to see him winning more races – one big weekend at Ascot recently with over 200k on offer in three races and he had one runner.
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