Congratulations Paul Nicholls

good call lass  makes up for all the derogaty posts earlier

Glad you have joined my sentiments, KenO'. Lot of rubbish on here today and nowhere have I seen congratulations for either feat. Thought this was a racing forum?

He deserves all the plaudits he gets,a true legend of the game.

Very unassuming is paul.....doesnt like the limelight much.....real real nice person.....everybody should be thrilled for him......

Looks after his staff well

Nice one Mr Nicholls congratulations,you are a credit to National Hunt racing

an extra 30k pool money to be shared out between the staff is a nice end of season bonus.

the landlord at the local is a happy man

Is that the landlord at Ditcheat.....or the one 30 miles away.....where Harry Fry trains Rock on Ruby....

who else is trained at the barber yard as you seem well informed?

More than likely half his runners are trained there.....Barber is the boss.....Nicholls is only the pissboy.....same as skelton is......

you know f all mate after that comment

And you know fukk all if ya think Nicholls trained Rock On Ruby.....he didnt ya tool.....is all Harry Frys prizemoney included under Nicholls?.....yes and it shouldnt be.....henderson is the champion trainer....if right was right.....

Only interested in fair play ......hate people that take undeserved acclaim......rock on ruby may as easy have run under Hendersons name......he saw as much of the horse as Nicholls did.....

So rock on ruby is down there on his own is he?......

Busvaldo.....shut up ya fool ya.....

hey wildman. So why is it ROR not at dtcheat, do you actually lnow??

So, coming into this year’s Cheltenham Festival he was just a Champion Hurdle shy of the full complement and that was put right by the impressive performance of Rock On Ruby. Or was it?

Perhaps it was ignorance on my part, but I didn’t realise that Champion Hurdler Rock On Ruby was trained at a ‘satellite yard’ and not in Ditcheat, where he would be under the constant scrutiny of the British champion trainer.

It never crossed my mind to question it — why would it?

Possibly not the biggest deal in the world, after all he was still under the tutelage of one of the best trainers in the business and his influence over the horse would be strong.

In the post-race interviews, however, it became increasingly obvious the horse was being trained by Harry Fry, under the stewardship of Richard Barber, under the sometimes stewardship of Paul Nicholls.

In fact, the following quote from Harry Fry puts into question just how much influence Nicholls actually exerts: "Paul comes down here when he can, but we have all the facilities here and we are left to our own devices. We always liaise regarding race planning as there is no point taking each other on if we don’t have to."

The language is quite distinct, as, it would seem, is the line of separation.

If ‘Paul comes down here when he can’ equates to training the horse, I can make similar claims to having reared my nieces and nephews, having babysat them a couple of times.

Perhaps that’s an exaggeration, but it raises question marks.

The assertion that there is ‘no point in taking each other on’ also indicates independent operations, as does a further revelation from Fry that: ’We look after 25 in the satellite yard, mostly the ones we sourced ourselves which is why they stay with us. Some are sent to us by Paul if they won’t go up his gallop, for instance".

The more I heard, the more it sounded to me like Nicholls has had little or no interaction with some of the 25 horses. Look, this isn’t intended to be a slight on Paul Nicholls, or Harry Fry or Richard Barber and theirs isn’t the first instance of the use of a satellite yard, but the distinction between the two yards seems absolute and it’s just another case of information that punters should be party to from the outset.

Coming into this year’s Festival, there were doubts over the well-being of the Nicholls team, with reports of some of the string coughing. That was a major concern and one which proved well-founded as a number of the horses failed to fire at all or didn’t pick up in the manner expected.

Did horses from one yard run better than the ones from the other? The answer shouldn’t matter. It’s not something punters should have to concern themselves with because the situation should never arise.

Would I be as inclined to back a Harry Fry or Richard Barber horse in a championship race as I would a Paul Nicholls horse? Maybe. Maybe not. But, at the very least, I’d like to feel safe in the knowledge that whatever the name beside the horse, it is that of the actual trainer. I don’t think that’s asking too much, is it?


This story appeared in the printed version of the Irish Examiner Saturday, March 24, 2012

Shut up busvaldo ya complete tool ya.....Gambling jockey ya knobbend ......the article said this years champion hurdle winner was trained by Harry fry under the tutelage of Richard barber.....