20th February 2011 Four timer on Friday We recorded our eleventh Grade 2 success of the season at Newbury on Friday when Noland gamely held on under AP McCoy to win the re- arranged Aon Chase.  He just fended off What A Friend and Harry Skelton on the line to give the stable a one-two in a race that has been very kind to us over the past few seasons. Aiteen Thirtythree also scored by no less than fifty lengths, under Nick Scholfield, later in the afternoon and is beginning to fulfil the promise that we all thought he may have.  He is a serious contender for the RSA Chase at Cheltenham in March.  Just Amazing (Ryan Mahon) at Sandown in the Hunter Chase and Promising Anshan (Ian Popham) at Fakenham made it four winners on the day. 20th February 2011 Winner Number 99 We are now within one winner of a century with Aerial bringing up our 99th success of the season at Wincanton yesterday afternoon.  Tony McCoy did the steering for us at our local track whilst Nick Scholfield and Sonofvic also won at Ascot earlier in the day to make it six winners in two days.  In the up's and down's of racing I was delighted that Celestial Halo ran a blinder back over two miles to be just touched off in the Kingwell Hurdle at Wincanton but sadly Pride Of Dulcote suffered a fatal fall at Ascot earlier in the afternoon.  It is tragic for all concerned to lose such a talented young horse. 16th February 2011 Cheltenham on the horizon With just under four weeks to go until the start of The 2011 Cheltenham Festival, the next couple of weekends will mop up a lot of the final Cheltenham trails and prep runs for our horses.  Everyone will then knuckle down to the final countdown for Cheltenham and the business of being ready for the biggest National Hunt meeting of them all and the Championship races that we all strive to have runners and winners in. This Saturday sees some very good festival trails at Ascot, Haydock and Wincanton.  Ascot stages the Grade 1 Betfair Ascot Chase in which we should be represented by Pride Of Dulcote.  There is also The Reynoldstown Novice Chase and a Listed Handicap in a tremendous supporting card. Haydock have two Grade 2's in the shape of The Albert Bartlett Novice Hurdle and The totescoop6 Hurdle (formally the Rendlesham).  With a reminder that Aintree is also approaching, they also stage the Grade 3 Grand National trail among some very competitive racing. Our local track Wincanton also holds one of their biggest meetings of the year with the Grade 2 Kingwell Hurdle over two miles being the feature of the afternoon. We shall have plenty of runners and I will be providing a full run down and appraisal of the weekend runners in my Racing Column exclusive to Betfair   www.betfair.com/paulnicholls  13th February 2011 Tragic events at Newbury Our sympathies and deepest commiserations go out to the connections of the two horses that were so tragically killed in the parade ring at Newbury on Saturday in what appears to have been a freak incident.  Hopefully the enquiry by Newbury into the circumstances surrounding the incident can be fully established and we will never have to experience anything like it ever again.  It was a terrible day for racing. Just to add, our horse, Al Ferof, who was in the parade ring during the incident and who went on to take part in and win the opening race was fine on Sunday.  13th February 2011 Nearing a Century of winners Over the past few days we have continued to have a steady stream of winners and our season total for 2010-2011, as at the close of play on Sunday, stands at 93.  It is always a target to reach 100 winners per season and hopefully we should be there over in the next week or so. Our most recent victories include a nice double at Kempton on Friday with Rebel Rebellion and American Trilogy, Al Ferof at Newbury on Saturday and Brampour at Taunton on Thursday.  Many of our other horses have also run well to be placed and the team seems in decent order as we head towards the big spring Festivals. 9th February 2011 Newbury on Saturday The build up to Cheltenham moves to Newbury this coming Saturday with plenty of clues potentially on offer including The Aon Chase where What A Friend and Noland will feature for us.  The Grade 2 totepool Game Spirit Chase for the two milers is also on the same card as well as The Grade 3 totesport Trophy Hurdle which looks as competitive as ever.  The supporting races are all noteworthy for the 2011 Festival including the finale of the afternoon which is a Grade 2 Bumper. Warwick also stages a Grade 2 contest in the form of The Kingmaker Novices Chase over two miles which traditionally has thrown up some very smart performers in the past and this years entries look no exception.We shall have plenty of runners and I will be providing a full run down and appraisal of the weekend runners in my Racing Column exclusive to Betfair   www.betfair.com/paulnicholls 7th February 2011 Grand National Entries Entries for the 2011 running of The John Smith's Grand National have recently been completed and we have ten entered at this initial stage for the big race at Aintree on Saturday, 9 April. In alphabetical order they are Gullible Gordon, Just Amazing, Meanus Dandy, recent Argento Chase victor Neptune Collonges and former Irish Grand National winner Niche Market.  Ornais, Taranis, The Tother One, Tricky Trickster (who finished ninth last year) and dual Grade 1 winner What A Friend complete the line up for team Ditcheat. Intended running plans will be decided in the future once the weights for the race have been released. 7th February 2011 Weekend results Following Join Together's success at Chepstow on Friday, for us it was a relatively quiet Saturday in terms of numbers with just three runners at Sandown.  Two of those were in very competitive handicaps and the other in an ultra hot Grade 1 Novice Chase but Rebel Du Maquis, Prince Tom and Take The Breeze all gave their best to be there in contention on the turn for home without all quite managing to be involved in the final shake up. It was also unfortunate to loose Leopardstown and the Hennessy Gold Cup to the bad weather on Sunday.  Although it is intended to re-stage the meeting next Saturday, as I tweeted yesterday, Pride of Dulcote will not be travelling across the water and will now instead go for the Grade 1 Chase at Ascot in just under a fortnight's time. 2nd February 2011 Sandown this weekend It was good to get Qozak's chasing career off the ground at Taunton yesterday following a couple of slight disappointments with him.  He got his name on the score sheet by coming home readily under Nick Scholfield by ten lengths from the Phillip Hobbs trained Keki Buku and in the process became winner number 88 for Manor Farm Stables this season. Sandown moves back into the spotlight this coming weekend with the Grade 2 Scilly Isles Novices' Chase and The Grade 3 totescoop6 Heroes Handicap Hurdle.  The same card also sees The Contenders Hurdle which should see an appearance by a couple of the main players in the current Champion Hurdle market. Wetherby also stages a Grade 2 contest in the form of The Towton Novices' Chase over three miles whilst Ffos Las also holds the highlight of its jumping fixtures with The William Hill Welsh Champion Hurdle. We shall have plenty of runners and I will be providing a full run down and appraisal of the weekend runners in my Racing Column exclusive to Betfair   www.betfair.com/paulnicholls 30th January 2011 Neptune back on song It was wonderful to get Neptune Collonges back in the winner's enclosure on Saturday at Cheltenham.  Our Ten year old grey showed his still retains all his old enthusiasm by jumping out the gate and making all under the champion AP McCoy to take The Grade 2 Argento Chase by one and a quarter lengths from the fast finishing Tidal Bay. Rock On Ruby, second in The Neptune Investments Novice Hurdle and Indian Daudaie, third in the Triumph Hurdle trail also ran well for us during a very competitive and entertaining afternoons racing. 29th January 2011 Treble on Friday Although we lost Doncaster's valuable Saturday card to the frost, we didn't come away from Turf Moor empty handed as we recorded a nice double on Friday in the shape of Empire Levant (Harry Skelton) and King Of The Night (Ian Popham).  Definity and Nick Scholfield were also successful in the opening Novice Chase at Fontwell on the same afternoon to make it three on the day. 28th January 2011 Doncaster on Friday The Minack supplied us with our only winner of the day at Warwick yesterday (Thursday) when scoring in The two and a half mile Novice Chase under Nick Scholfield.  Themilanhorse at Warwick and both Rangitoto and Karinga Dancer at Ffos Las also ran promisingly to be placed and look nice individuals for the future. Today we have three runners at Doncaster with Empire Levant, Font and King Of The Night, in that order, contesting the last three races on the card.  Definity (Beginners' Chase) and Tieptiep (Bumper) also run for us at Fontwell Park. The weekend will be busy so don't forget I will be providing a full run down and appraisal of the weekend runners in my Racing Column exclusive to Betfair   www.betfair.com/paulnicholls  26th January 2011 Festival trails weekend The 2011 Cheltenham Festival gets ever nearer and with January having come and gone fairly swiftly it seems, this Saturday sees Festival Trails day at Cheltenham. The final meeting at Prestbury Park before the big one will host no less than four Grade 2 contests and a Grade 3 including both The Argento Chase and The Cleeve Hurdle over three miles. Doncaster also arguably has its best National Hunt card of the year with two Grade 2's (The Lightning Novices' Chase and The River Don Novices' Hurdle).  The Yorkshire venue also stages the Listed Sky Bet Chase (formerly The Great Yorkshire Chase) over three miles the same afternoon. We shall have plenty of runners and I will be providing a full run down and appraisal of the weekend runners in my Racing Column exclusive to Betfair  www.betfair.com/paulnicholls  23rd January 2011 Our 75th Grade 1 Winner With some of our horses not quite running to form, it was fantastic that Master Minded put up a brave battling display to just hold on and record the stables 75th Grade 1 success at Ascot on Saturday. Partnered by AP McCoy, Master Minded just held off the challenge of Somersby and Hadden Frost in the dying strides to win the Victor Chandler Chase for the second time and at the same time recording his own seventh Grade 1 Chase. It was our third victory in a row in the race with Twist Magic recording a success sandwiched between Master Minded's brace in the race. Poungach, rounded the afternoon off well for us by recording a success in the Novice Hurdle and posting a welcome double for team Ditcheat. 20th January 2011 Taunton on Thursday It was good to get a winner on the board at Newbury yesterday with our very nice prospect Cedre Bleu, partnered by Sam Thomas, putting up a very promising display in the juvenile Hurdle. Today we have four runners at Taunton with Bermuda Boy kicking us off in the opening two mile novice hurdle.  Al Ferof will be a very warm order in the two mile three furlong novice hurdle an hour later, whilst Sanctuaire and Tito Bustillo complete our quartet with both set to run in the two mile Handicap Hurdle. 19th January 2011 Weekend Racing In terms of runners for the stable it has been a very quiet few days.  Things will change a little as we head towards the weekend starting with Newbury tomorrow.  We will have just one runner with Cede Bleu (partnered by Sam Thomas) lining up for us in the juvenile Hurdle at 1.00pm.  On Thursday we should be in action at Taunton where we have several entries. It promises to be yet another busy weekend for us with fixtures at Ascot, Haydock and Wincanton very much on the agenda for the stable. Ascot stages Grade 1 action in the shape of The Victor Chandler Chase over two miles and a furlong.  The supporting card also boasts two Grade 2 hurdles with The 1942 Was A Vintage Year Mares' Hurdle over three miles and The Bet With Your Mobile At victorchandler.com Holloway's Hurdle over and extended two miles, three furlongs. Haydock also hosts some very decent racing with three Grade 2 races.  They are The Rossington Main Novices' Hurdle over two miles, The Liverpool Echo Novices' Chase over two and a half miles and The Peter Marsh Chase (Limited Handicap) over two miles and five furlongs.  Punters should also have a few more clues for Cheltenham with The Stanjames.com Champion Hurdle Trial taking place on the same afternoon. I will be providing a full run down and appraisal of the weekend runners in my Racing Column exclusive to Betfair   www.betfair.com/paulnicholls 16th January 2011 Kauto Star is fine It wasn't to be Kauto Star's day at Kempton Park on Saturday in the re-arranged King George VI Chase but as I commented on Twitter on Saturday evening, we all have to have bad days so as to appreciate the good ones.   He wasn't disgraced in third place and ran a typically brave race even though it may not have been his best form. Kauto has given us plenty to celebrate in the past and supplied us with four wonderfully memorable days at Sunbury in particular to become the only horse to ever win four King George's in a row.  Desert Orchid being the only other horse to win it four times but he was defeated the year after his first victory.   As everyone will now know Kauto did suffer a bit of a bleed on both nostrils after the race but appears to be fine again now.  After talking it over with Clive Smith, he will now head straight to The Cheltenham Festival in March for a fifth crack at the Gold Cup. Our other runner, The Nightingale also ran disappointingly finishing distressed and has since been diagnosed, by the vets, as having a heart problem similar to the one experienced by Denman a couple of years ago. For the full story on Kauto's bleeding and an update on The Nightingale's heart condition, take a look at http://bit.ly/i2evkz 16th January 2011 Business as usual We suffered a disappointing day at Kempton on Saturday with some of our horses running below expectations, however there is no time for dwelling on those reversals in this game and we will look forward to the challenges ahead of us for the remainder of the season including bringing Kauto Star back to his best for the Cheltenham Gold Cup in just over eight weeks time. Tomorrow is another day as they say and it was good to get a winner on the board on Sunday with our only runner Carlicue scoring at Ffos Las in the Maiden Hurdle, our gelding scoring by four and a half lengths under Daryl Jacob. 14th January 2011 Keeping up with the weather and a Winner at Hereford The weather continues to play havoc with our running plans as we now have plenty of the racecourses including Kempton on Saturday forecasting very testing conditions due to the continual rain currently falling all over the country. To keep up to date with some of our latest thoughts on our horses and their possible targets don't forget to follow both myself and my Assistant Trainer Dan Skelton on Twitter.  We can be found @pfnicholls and @dannskelton. It was good to get another winner on the board at Hereford yesterday bringing our season total to 77.  Minella Stars put up a battling display in the Heavy going under Harry Skelton to score by three and a half lengths and looks a real chasing type for the future.  We have no runners on Friday but obviously will have plenty to keep us busy on Saturday with Kempton and Warwick.  We also have entries at Ffos Las on Sunday. I will be providing a full run down and appraisal of the weekend runners in my Racing Column exclusive to Betfair  www.betfair.com/paulnicholls 12th January 2011 Kauto all set for Kempton Due to the weather there has been a very long wait to see The 2010 King George V Chase at Kempton Park and Kauto Star's historic bid for a fifth straight victory in the race.  However we are nearly there and hopefully we are now set fair for racing at Sunbury this weekend on a bumper packed card that features no less than nine races. Despite the inclement weather and the delay, Kauto remains bang on course for the big race and has not been interrupted in his preparations during the past few weeks. We shall have plenty of other runners as well and I will be providing a full run down and appraisal of the weekend runners in my Racing Column exclusive to Betfair  www.betfair.com/paulnicholls  10th January 2011 Double at Wincanton Although we were out of luck at Sandown in the Tolworth Hurdle and Chepstow in the Coral Welsh National and Finale Juvenile Hurdle, it was great to still have a double on the card at our local track Wincanton on Saturday. Both The Minack and Fistral Beach are owned by one of jump racings best supporters, Graham Roach, who has had many good horses down the years including Thisthatandtother with us and Viking Flagship with David Nicholson.  We hope that both can progress on to better things following their encouraging displays on Saturday. Next weekend sees the re-arranged King George at Kempton and we shall have a very busy week of interest and anticipation as we build up to Kauto's historic attempt at a fifth King George. We shall have plenty of other runners as well and I will be providing a full run down and appraisal of the weekend runners in my Racing Column exclusive to Betfair  www.betfair.com/paulnicholls 4th January 2011 Busy weekend With the festive celebrations and holiday season now well and truly over, 2011 gets into full swing this coming weekend with an extremely busy weekend of racing for us all.  The main action on Saturday will focus around Sandown, Chepstow and Wincanton. Sandown hosts the Grade 1 Tolworth Hurdle along with some very decent supporting handicaps.  Meanwhile, Chepstow holds the highlight of its National Hunt calendar in the shape of the re-arranged Grade 3 Coral Welsh National saved from Boxing Day.  The Welsh venue also stages the Grade 1 Finale Juvenile Hurdle on the same card. Our local track Wincanton is also due to be back in action following a couple of cancellations in the snow and they hold another decent fixture. We shall have plenty of runners and I will be providing a full run down and appraisal of the weekend runners in my Racing Column exclusive to Betfair  www.betfair.com/paulnicholls  1st January 2011 Happy New Year from Paul Nicholls  On behalf of myself and all of the team here at Manor Farm Stables in Ditcheat I would like to wish all of our owners, staff, fans, supporters  and helpers a very Happy and prosperous New Year. Let's hope that the forthcoming year is a good one for us all.  Inevitably, the countdown is now on to The 2011 Cheltenham Festival which is just over ten weeks away.  1st January 2011 New Years Day at Cheltenham  After seeing out the old year and bringing a new one in, we are off to Cheltenham this afternoon for their traditional New Year's Day fixture.  Highlights on the card include the Grade 2 Dipper Novices Chase where we will be represented by Sang Bleu and the victorchandler.com  Grade 3 Handicap Chase where we run two in the shape of top weight Taranis and the consistent Five Dream. The Stewart Family owned  trio of Celestial Halo, My Will and Gwanako provide our ammunition in the supporting races for what looks like some very competitive racing  to start 2011. We will also be racing down at Exeter where we have Mr Hudson, Bermuda Boy, That'lldoboy, Advisor and Billy Merriott all due  to line up during the course of the afternoon on a very busy day. As usual I will be providing a full run down and appraisal of the our runners  in my Racing Column exclusive to Betfair   www.betfair.com/paulnicholls   Home Shop Horses News Stables Gallery Contact Winners Sitemap Links