PNicholls

[i]14:00 Aintree[/i] [b]Big Buck's[/b] Has come in his coat and looks in superb nick at the moment. I suppose the only possible negative about his chance here is that this is his fifth run of the season, having taken in an extra race this year. But he certainly shows no sign of being over the top. Had quite a hard race - for him at least - when winning his fourth World Hurdle at Cheltenham last month but he did what he had to do, as he always does, and ground out the win. Aims to win his fourth Liverpool Hurdle today and last year's win in the race was arguably his most impressive over hurdles, never coming off the bridle in beating Grands Crus by 5 lengths. This year's renewal doesn't look anywhere near as strong. Will I be disappointed if he is beaten? Yes, of course. But this is...

My possible Aintree team had an easy fortnight after Cheltenham, but we are beginning to step them up in their work now. When I say they were given an easy time, we obviously still kept them active. But this would just involve walking one day, cantering the next, in the first week, then a canter every day in the second week and we gave them some half-speed work last Saturday. However, this week, we will really step it up and see how the horses respond. Then we will start to firm up our Aintree plans. But it looks like we will be going to Aintree with both a strong and fresh team, for various reasons, with everything to play for in the trainers' title. Neptune Collonges is my only runner in the Grand National. From what I have seen there isn't a great deal of rain forecast for...

[u]13:30, Jewson Novices' Chase[/u] [i]Cristal Bonus[/i] Was favourite for this race until Peddlers Cross was re-routed from the Arkle but this is a horse with the class and form to make his presence felt here, make no mistake. He may not have had the ability to finish second in a Champion but he was a very smart hurdler and has been impressive in his two chase starts, winning by 25 lengths at Chepstow and then beating Duke of Lucca by 13 lengths at Kempton last time, coming home really powerfully. Jumped slightly out to his left at Kempton so going left handed here will suit him too. While respecting Peddlers Cross and plenty of others in this competitive race such as Sir Des Champs and For Non Stop, I like his chances. [u]14:05, Pertemps Final (Handicap Hurdle)[/u] [i]Sonofvic[/i] It...

t would be fair to say that Saturday wasn't a great day at the office for me. Plenty of our horses didn't show their true form and even Dan mentioned to me on the drive home that, as far as he could remember, this was the first Saturday we didn't have a winner since he has been working with me. In fact we have only had one winner in our last 31 runners; not a particularly good stat to read. I don't like giving excuses but I do want to keep punters informed and, as our weekends runners came back from the track, a good few of them had dirty noses and were coughing. Nothing serious but it's got to be monitored and gives us some clues as to why a few of the team didn't run to their true form, which was plain to see. Coughs come and go at yards and there is always the odd horse with one but,...

[b]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.[/b] 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 [b]Kauto Star's[/b] future after his Punchestown run. But he is still out enjoying himself in a field with [b]Denman[/b], 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...

Big Buck's brought the house down when winning his third World Hurdle at Cheltenham last month, so let's hope that he can go down the tried and tested route of the past two years and follow up in this race. With a horse like this there isn't much more you can say; namely, he is a superstar and up there with the best I have trained. Now, there may have been horses in my time here that have been officially rated higher - Kauto Star, Denman, Master Minded and Azertyuiop - but he matches them all for raw talent, and hardness, in my book. And he showed that again at Cheltenham last month; the pace wasn't great so Ruby had him prominent and when he had to find, he did, pulling away again when Grands Crus came to challenge him, idling in victory close home in winning by 1 ¾ lengths. With...

A word of warning for Betfair punters - in fact, three. The first is that you can't always trust Cheltenham form at Aintree. Admittedly, three horses won at both Festivals last year - Big Buck's, Peddlers Cross and Albertas Run - but you simply never know for sure what running at Cheltenham, the most competitive of racing environments, has taken out of your horse. Different track, different ground, different day often leads to different results, with the form not standing up. In addition, you never know what has happened to the horses in between. And I can reveal here that I have had a couple of minor scares with Big Buck's and Zarkandar this week. Big Buck's always tends to give me a scare before big races, which is very nice of him. He worked moderately on the Saturday ...

Cheltenham this year was one of the best Festivals I can remember. Three winners, some great performances in defeat, and we were only a short head away from emerging as the top stable from the week. We came out of it £118,000 or so in front of Nicky, and we still have plenty more bullets to fire in the latter part of the season. Here are my thoughts on some of my leading lights of the week. Plans are not set in stone for any of them but this is my current thinking: [b]Al Ferof[/b]: I was obviously delighted to win the first race of the Festival, and get Ruby on the board so soon. Al Ferof won't run again this season. Even though the Supreme was clearly a very good race - it was actually faster than the Champion - I don't think he is a horse that wants to stay hurdling too long....

Here's my preview of the World Hurdle: Both Big Buck's and Celestial Halo are owned by The Stewart Family and we will start with Celestial Halo. With all due respect to Alan, I was bloody relieved to see Mille Chief well beaten in the Champion on Tuesday. I may have to answer some tricky questions from Andy as we were giving Mille Chief 4lb when beaten by a nose in the Kingwell at Wincanton last month! But this horse has clearly come right back to his best in recent weeks - don't forget he is a Triumph Hurdle winner and a Champion Hurdle runner-up - and won well in the National Spirit Hurdle at Fontwell last time. A lot of people think he is in here to make the running for Big Buck's but let them think that. That said, Big Buck's is clearly the main man. Unbeaten in his 10 starts...