Paul Nicholls Horses update

Kauto and Denman are enjoying themselves out in the field and it's business as usual for Big Buck's. Paul Nicholls provides an update on his top horses.

As I said earlier, in many ways this is a season of the changing of the old guard here at Ditcheat. But I suppose we still have the odd established star here and there, too, even if some of them probably won't be around for much longer.

Of course, there has been a lot of speculation about Kauto Star's future after his Punchestown run. But he is still out enjoying himself in a field with Denman, and we will leave him there for a bit longer while the sun is still shining, though they may both come back in next Monday. There are no plans at all for Kauto at this stage, and won't be until I sit down and talk to Clive.

The plans for Denman are more clear cut after discussions between myself and Paul Barber. The plan is that Denman will have two runs this season, the Lexus and Gold Cup, and Cheltenham will probably be his swansong. When both horses do eventually call it a day, I really would like to keep them together in retirement, wherever that may be, as they love each other's company. But that is obviously a matter for Paul and Clive to discuss and agree upon.

Contrary to what appeared in the Telegraph, Big Buck's has not had a breathing operation. I think I summarized the situation quite well when journalists rang to check on the accuracy of that story.

"It's bollocks," said I.

In fact, the horse of Andy Stewart's that has had a breathing operation is Celestial Halo. As for Big Buck's, it will be business as usual for him this season, with the same targets as in previous years.

Master Minded excites me for the coming season, too, and he will have Georgie back riding him out at home. He will run in the Ascot race he won last season before taking on Long Run in the King George. Obviously the trip is an unknown but the two times we have stepped him up in trip, he has delivered, so we are hopeful; his nine length win over Albertas Run at Aintree certainly opened up options and his class has never been in doubt. But I fully respect Long Run, and I think Philip Hobbs has a couple of serious prospects in Wishfull Thinking and Captain Chris. But I am really looking forward to seeing Master Minded run.

Triumph Hurdle winner Zarkandar is probably the most high profile horse in the yard to have had a breathing operation. He was struggling in that area last season and always made a noise, so let's hope that it has improved him, as second-season hurdlers do tend to struggle historically, with Katchit an honourable exception. He was clearly progressive last season though and is around second favourite for the Champion Hurdle behind Hurricane Fly; options are open for him at this stage, but maybe the Greatwood could be a good starting point.

Our Supreme winner Al Ferof actually comes back into the yard tomorrow. I have him earmarked for a 2m1f at Exeter for his reappearance, though he will probably want 2m4f in time.

Silviniaco Conti is very much the forgotten horse of the hurdling division - he was very impressive when beating Karabak by seven lengths in the Coral Hurdle at Ascot in November, after which I believe Timeform put him up as ante-post bet for the Champion Hurdle. I never truly had him down as a two miler though, and think he is more of a 3m horse. We have yet to decide whether he will go novice chasing but the Ascot race he won last year was worth £50,000 to the winner, so perhaps we will send him there again and consider our options thereafter.

Mon Parrain excited many people towards the end of last season, not least because of his superb jumping, and I agree that he could develop into a top drawer performer. But the fact is that he only won off 133 at Sandown and was beaten four lengths off 149 in the Topham. I have my eye on the Paddy Power Gold Cup for him.

Of the others Aiteen Thirtythree has had his shins pin fired and I will try and get him to the Hennessy; Sanctuaire will go novice chasing and I am going to target Ghizao for the Haldon Gold Cup, all things being well.


Many of the big names at Ditcheat are in the twilight of their careers but with six new arrivals from Graham Wylie and a host of promising new names there are many reasons to be cheerful and 2011-12 could be a year to remember for Paul and the team...

We always aim to have 20 winners by September 1 and I am very happy with the way that my summer horses have gone, with 17 winners at a strike rate of 33 per cent.

But of course the "real" season doesn't really begin until October and we have been busy upgrading for the challenges that lie ahead.

And challenges certainly do lie ahead, because this season represents a "Changing Of The Guard" for Ditcheat, with some established stars coming towards the end of their careers and a few notable departures from the yard.

In fact, it is the first time I can recall looking at the Gold Cup betting and not having a horse near the top of the market. In fact, Master Minded is my shortest priced horse in the Gold Cup betting (at 18.0 on Betfair) and I honestly have my doubts about his staying 3m2f at Cheltenham (see accompanying story though).

So in many respects we have a new team and generation of horses, and new challenges ahead, so we are possibly where Nicky has been in the past couple of seasons in that he has many established stars now and we have the up and coming youngsters. So this year's Trainers' Championship promises to be a real scrap.

But we never rest on our laurels and past glories here at Ditcheat.

We have spent a considerable six figure sum upgrading our gallops, something that we tend to do every five years. We have completely replaced the Flat gallop with a Martin Collins gel track, and we have put three inches of topping (eco track) on the hill gallop.

We sadly lost Twist Magic last season; Tchico Polos and Tito Bustillo have gone up to Lucinda Russell; Breedsbreeze and The Tother One have gone hunter chasing in Ireland; Taranis has been retired; and Gwanako and Chapoturgeon will be hunter chasing in the spring.

But we have performed 20-odd breathing operations this summer and have 40 new horses in the yard - Irish and English pointers, bumper horses, French recruits and three lovely 3yos - and I have still plenty of orders to fill. And no doubt that I will be aiming to do that at Autueil in September, amongst other areas.

Horses that I would look out for from the English point to point field are Dualla Lord, four from four, and Curtain Raiser and Mendip Express. While there are six I would recommend you put in your notebook from Ireland: Final Gift, St Roque (related to Quito De La Roque of Colm Murphy's), Italian Masters, Likeable Rogue, Rolling Aces and Rocky Creek.

The latter is a full brother to Tell Massini, and Graham Wylie has just sent me six lovely horses as well, in addition to the half share he has in Pacha Du Polder, a winner at Enghien in March, with Andy Stewart.

The six horses from Graham are all rated 130 and over. The most notable is Quwetwo, and the others are Ascendant, Doeslessthanme, Double Expresso, Hold Fast and The Knoxs.

I have other new owners in the yard, too. Robin Geffen, who joint-owned St Leger winner Arctic Cosmos, has kindly sent me Cristal Bonus, a very smart French horse in 2009/10, and now owns Kauto Stone. The latter is a half brother to a certain Kauto Star, and won the same Grade 1 race at Auteuil last year that Long Run did before him.

And we welcome Daryl Jacob in the yard as our number two jockey. Ruby will be back by the start of October but we have plenty of back-up before he returns in Harry Skelton, Ryan Mahon, Nick Scholfield and Ian Popham, as well as the youngsters David Prichard, Harry Derham and Jack Barber. And Noel Fehily, who did so well for us before injury last season, will continued to be used, too.