PNicholls

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.


To read more Paul Nicholls insight go to http://betting.betfair.com/horse-racing/paul-nicholls/