rumour , kauto ,smith and nicholls

What horses does/did he have with Nicholls apart from Kauto Star? Master Minded has already been retired.

From what I have heard about Clive Smith - which is all second hand and I've never met the bloke - he is a nasty piece of work. Doesn't look after the stable staff when his horses run apparently. PN might be better off without him. Wonder if he might end up at Seven Barrows!!??

no connection with this thread but didnt realise j.p mcmanus had sent bumper winner mr mole to p. nicholls .

In Nicholls Biography he explained how Smith picked up a '4 figure bar bill  ' when kauto won his first gold cup...

The bar bill was for nicholls staff btw.

£12.60?

Might just be rumours? Was interesting to see JP finally send one to Nicholls this year though

I think Smith has a couple still, inc those with the Betfair Racing Club (Plenty Pocket). I know they have had a few staggeringly expensive flops, but that is a fair price to pay for a Kauto and MM.

Well spotted - looks like Indian Daudaie is another Smith/Betfair RC.

Plenty Pocket is now with Jamie Snowden, claimed out of a seller at Stratford.

The person who posted this rumour on Twitter has backed off somewhat anyway. Now saying Smith won't have any horses with Nicholls in future, not that he's moving those currently there. (Plus I'm not aware of any official confirmation of any of this anyway).

Thanks for the update Strontium.

I have no idea what has prompted this, if it is true, or whther Smith is leaving the game altogther in future, but to not have horses with PFN and have them elsewhere (if that is what transpires) would be breathtaking for me. Then again, Smith took them from Pipe after Pipe had given him a festival winner, so you never know I suppose.


Barton thanks for the correction re P Pocket. Is Indian D still there? H

All very strange if true,Reckon he's probably leaving the game altogether,For such a lucky and ultimately successful owner he didn't have that many horses,He doesn't realise how lucky he is to have owned one of the best chasers of all time and one who wasn't that far behind at one stage in his career.

Kauto Star

Owner Clive Smith believes a decision on the future of Kauto Star is likely to be made within the next couple of weeks.

The five-time King George winner and dual Cheltenham Gold Cup hero was pulled up with over a circuit to run in the blue riband at Prestbury Park in March, casting serious doubt over whether the 12-year-old would grace the racecourse again.

He has returned to light training after a summer break and a possible final appearance in the King George at Kempton on Boxing Day has been mooted, but Smith insists there has been no firm decision either way at this stage.

"He's fine but there's been no decision yet," said Smith.

"I've actually been away a bit so I'll talk to Paul (Nicholls, trainer) shortly and hopefully get somewhere pretty soon.

"He's just been cantering up the hill and is gradually getting fitter. If he is going to run again, then it won't be for three months, so there is no great rush.

"He's looking good and it's a long-term thing having spent the summer in the field.

"Hopefully we'll have a good idea of where we are in the next couple of weeks."

Thanks very much for that, BJG.

I'm feeling a lot happier about this, now. Those rumours were very worrying.

I would rather see Kauto retire than run again.

I sincerely hope that whatever they decide to do with Kauto he makes it to a happy retirement.

I think they will run him in the kING gEORGE BUT PART OF ME HOPES THEY DONT.

.

The less said the better RC I think, disappointing from both Clive Smith & Paul Nicholls. No need for this to be carried out in public.

Probably been discussed elsewhere but dont really understand Nicholls throwing his toys out about this. He obv doesnt keep every single horse hes ever retired at ditcheat so hows he got any right to dictate to the owner about this one

A couple of daft old self deluded drama queens whose ego's outweigh common sense and good grace.

The owner is a  c u next tuesday, of all the people to sell the horse to he sold Kauto to this idiot. Smith's made his money out of Kauto (not that he needed it) can't he just p i s s o f f back to his golf courses and let someone that actually cares about the game buy the horses that Nicholl's and his agent line up.

Most likely is a c u next tuesday but he forked out for the horse so that should be that. If Nicholls looked after every horse hes ever had then he could play the 9 years, Clifford, horse welfare blah blah card but he doesnt so he just looks like a petulent child

Nice one Brooksie


And spot on,imo.

Nicholls looked quite upset about the events that transpired this week in his interview on C4 Today.

Don't think I've seen him that emotional in an interview before.

No,Me neither,Well apart from when Kauto won the BF Chase and KG last season,But thats for totally different reasons.

He used the word embarrassed at least twice. Maybe he realised he acted like a petulant child - if he has accepted that then fair play to the guy.

When they look back on the last 7 days I suspect both PN and CS will admit it has not been their finest week. Both have made themselves look a bit daft and I am sure both would prefer to forget the whole drama and reflect only on the brilliance of the horse going forward. WE all make mistakes. Good to see they are human too. Moving on.

Excellently put HaylingBilly