Paul Nicholls unveils his strongest Cheltenham Festival team for years

“It’s the sunshine,” Paul Nicholls said several times here on Tuesday as a dozen gleaming Cheltenham contenders paraded in 16-degree heat, but there was more to his upbeat mood than the weather. The 10-times champion National Hunt trainer has not won a Grade One race at the Festival since the second day in 2015. This time, however, hope has been replaced by genuine expectation once more.

For the first time since the days of Kauto Star and Denman, there is a serious Gold Cup contender in the “millionaires row” of boxes in Nicholls’s top stable, as Clan Des Obeaux, the King George winner, heads towards the meeting’s showpiece event. That, in turn, gives Nicholls options, and the admirable Frodon now seems as likely to run in the Ryanair Chase as he is to line up alongside his stable companion the following day.

With Quel Destin, the second-favourite for the Triumph Hurdle, and Topofthegame, a 6-1 chance for the RSA Chase, also in the mix, it is no surprise that Nicholls sees this as his strongest Festival team for several seasons.

“Fitness-wise, they look fantastic,” Nicholls said. “A horse like Quel Destin has had six runs and he looks like he hasn’t had any runs. They look big and strong and well, so we’re going into it with some good chances.

“I haven’t held back on them or trained them just for Cheltenham, they’ve won races along the way. But everything has gone so well this season. Last year we had 124 winners and about two-and-a-half million in prize money, but I never thought the horses were really right last year. For whatever reason, I just didn’t think that they performed to their best.”

Clan Des Obeaux is closing in on Presenting Percy, last year’s RSA Chase winner, at the top of the Gold Cup betting and could easily start as the favourite to give Nicholls his fifth win in the race.

“Everything has gone to plan with him, he looks great and he’s come out of his last race [at Ascot] very well,” Nicholls said.

“He’s just progressive. People keep thinking it was a soft race the other day, but he beat a dual Grade One winner in Terrefort and absolutely murdered him. It was good to see him travel so well the other day, jump and then wing the last and quicken all the way to the line, because he had basically been a bit babyish.

“Last year we couldn’t really train him how we wanted. He had a splint, which held us up all the time, but from the day he won his first three-year-old, we always thought this was going to be a proper chaser.”

Clan Des Obeaux’s record at Cheltenham shows no wins from four attempts but his trainer sees no reason to question his ability to act on the track.

“The first time he was only just beaten in a Listed juvenile hurdle,” Nicholls said. “He should never have run in the Triumph Hurdle, he’s not a Triumph horse. Then he was second in the Dipper Novice Chase just after turning five, and after that he carried 11st 12lb in the Caspian Caviar Gold Cup and finished second to a horse carrying 10st 2lb.

“Harry [Cobden] got off him that day and said he was still learning. Now he’s mature and he’s done his own talking on his last two runs and we’re really excited about running him in the Gold Cup.”

Frodon has an outstanding record at Cheltenham including wins in the Caspian Caviar Gold Cup and the Cotswold Chase this season, but having apparently been seen as a likely runner in the Gold Cup after the latter success, he could yet be diverted to the Ryanair Chase.

“Frodon has had a wonderful season, he’s improved and improved and there’s been a lot of debate about where he’s going to run,” Nicholls said. “I’ll confirm for both and then make a plan and run where we think we’ve got our best chance. I’m not worried about the trip in the Gold Cup but it will probably be a tougher race than the Ryanair and Paul [Vogt, Frodon’s owner] has said he’ll leave it up to me.”

Wincanton 1.20 Champagne Mystery 1.50 Ostuni 2.20 Statistical 2.50 Chef D’Equipe 3.25 Collooney 3.55 Ted Bach 4.30 Tikkapick 5.00 Risk A Fine

Musselburgh 2.10 John Williams 2.40 Landsman 3.15 Call The Cops 3.45 Henry’s Joy 4.20 Wot A Shot 4.50 Tokaramore 5.20 Gran Paradiso

Southwell 2.30 Gorgeous General 3.05 Harbour Quay (nb) 3.35 National Glory 4.10 Weld Al Emarat (nap) 4.40 Stay Forever 5.10 Lexikon

Kempton Park 4.55 Joey Boy 5.30 Magicinthemaking 6.00 Daring Guest 6.30 Verdana Blue 7.00 Intrepidly 7.30 Cold Harbour 8.00 Reignite 8.30 Rivas Rob Roy

source: theguardian.com