14-time British jump racing Champion Trainer Paul Nicholls might not be as prominent at the Cheltenham Festival as he once was, with victories at the prestigious meeting few and far between thanks to Ireland’s dominance at Prestbury Park.
However, he is still one of the top (if not the best) handlers in the United Kingdom, and his Manor Farm Stables in Ditcheat, Somerset, remains one of the most powerful stables in the entirety of the sport of jumps racing.
With the new National Hunt Racing campaign underway, and all roads leading to the Cheltenham Festival in March, let’s take a look at some of Nicholls’ horses to watch this season.
Bravemansgame
The obvious place to start is with Bravemansgame, who is one of the leading chasers in horse racing today.
The eight-year-old had a fantastic start to last season, winning the Grade 2 Charlie Hall Chase at Wetherby before landing the esteemed Grade 1 King George VI Chase by 14 lengths at Kempton on Boxing Day.
Bravemansgame was then second to Galopin Des Champs in the Cheltenham Gold Cup and could fare no better than third in the Punchestown Gold Cup on his final outing of the season.
He reappeared with a rather lackluster second on the defense of the Charlie Hall Chase earlier this month, while he was also runner-up in the Betfair Chase.
Bravemansgame might have a lot to prove in King George, but he’s the 5/2 favorite to bounce back in the festive feature.
Hermes Allen
Hermes Allen started last season in scintillating form, winning a Maiden Hurdle at Stratford by a whopping 27 lengths, before making a big step up in class and landing the Grade 2 Hyde Novices’ Hurdle at the Cheltenham November Meeting by nine lengths.
The part Sir Alex Ferguson-owned horse made it a hat-trick with three wins in as many months when winning the Grade 1 Challow Novices’ Hurdle at Newbury by just short of five lengths on New Year’s Eve.
That appeared to set Hermes Allen up nicely for the Festival’s Ballymore Novices’ Hurdle. However, he could fare no better than sixth despite going off as the 9/4 favorite — and he was beaten again in the Turners Mersey Novices’ Hurdle at Aintree when third.
Hermes Allen is set to go chasing this season, and we could see him a couple of times in December with top targets at Newbury and Kempton before ultimately heading to the Festival — where the Tuners Novices’ Chase is a possibility.
Stay Away Fay
Another horse set to go novice chasing for Team Ditcheat this season, Stay Away Fay had a pretty good season for Nicholls last year.
He won on reappearance at Newbury before being narrowly beaten in the Grade 2 River Don Novices’ Hurdle at Doncaster in January.
The six-year-old bounced back from that at the Festival, however, winning the Grade 1 Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle from 18/1.
Stay Away Fay ended the season with a fourth-place finish at Aintree in April, but has already made a winning start over fences this season at Exeter, and looks like a front-runner for the Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase in March.
Captain Teague
Since we’ve already focused on three chasers, let’s turn our attention to a hurdler – Captain Teague.
The five-year-old won a point-to-point in Ireland before joining Nicholls’ yard and landing a bumper at Plumpton in December.
He was a very respectable third in the Grade 1 Champion Bumper at the Festival and won over obstacles on the first time of asking when scoring in the Grade 2 Persian War Novices’ Hurdle at Chepstow last month.
Captain Teague was beaten in the Hyde Novices’ Hurdle at the Cheltenham November Meeting, but the Ballymore Novices’ Hurdle could still be in the pipeline for him.