Olive Nicholls determined to bring 'change' to Ditcheat as she moves up dad Paul's pecking order after retiring from riding

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Olive Nicholls says she is relishing the opportunity to bring fresh ideas into her father Paul Nicholls' training system after ending her riding career to become assistant trainer at Ditcheat.

Nicholls, 20, rode her first double under rules at Newton Abbot on Wednesday when partnering Viroflay to victory in the 3m2f handicap chase before Golden Son coasted home by 29 lengths in the hunter chase over the same trip.

Following Golden Son's win, Paul Nicholls posted the news of his daughter's retirement on X, saying he was "mighty proud" of her achievements.

Olive Nicholls, who is the second of Paul Nicholls' four children and daughter of Grade 1-winning trainer Georgie Nicholls, will step up from pupil assistant to assistant trainer for her father, and said she felt it was the perfect moment to switch her focus entirely to training.

"I’ve always loved the training side of it and I moved down to Dad’s last summer," she said on Thursday. "Before that I trained pointers for a couple of years and really enjoyed doing that. Riding’s been my fun but this season I’ve been thinking about stopping. 

"I’ve had a couple of falls and have come away a bit sore, and ultimately I’ve been doing it for fun. There was always going to be a time it felt right to move up in the yard and to give it up. 

"I’ve had an amazing season and yesterday I’d say I felt very content walking away; it felt like the right time. It was my first double and it was never going to get better than that, especially as Viroflay was involved and he’s been an amazing horse for me."

The biggest win of Nicholls's career as a jockey came on Viroflay at Kempton's two-day Christmas festival in December, while her best seasonal tally under rules was seven victories from 50 rides in the 2024-25 season.

She will now be one of two assistants at Ditcheat along with George Edgedale and moves into the role at a key time for the stable. Last season, Paul Nicholls finished fourth in the trainers' championship and suffered the setbacks of losing key owners Gordon and Su Hall, Neil and Alfie Smith, and Johnny and Samantha de la Hey.

Nicholls, 64, has been crowned champion jumps trainer 14 times, most recently in 2022-23, but last season his tally of 94 British winners was his lowest in 25 years.

Speaking to the Racing Post in an interview in 2024, Olive Nicholls discussed her desire to train in the longer term, adding that "at some point I will join Dad," and on Thursday she said she hoped to be able to help lift the fortunes of the operation in the 2026-27 season.

• Olive Nicholls: 'Longer term I would love to train - and at some point I will join Dad' 

"It’s going to be exciting to get going properly when the horses are back in July," she said. "It’s nice to be stepping up and we have lots to focus on now. Hopefully we’re going to turn things around and get fighting again. It’s surprised me this season how able I’ve felt to offer input and put forward suggestions that would be taken and acted on. 

"Hopefully moving up can mean there are some changes that can come in as there needs to be. So much that’s been done here for so long has worked so well, but it’s a different game now and we have to adapt to that. I think I’ll be able to bring in some new ideas that can help change things around and I think there’s a lot of opportunity for us in this moment."

Read these next:

The De la Heys leaving Ditcheat is not a mortal blow to Paul Nicholls, although their buying power will be sorely missed 

Ditcheat rollercoaster - the highs and lows in a turbulent 12 months for Paul Nicholls 

Paul Nicholls: 'Some fantastic lads have been through Ditcheat but I always thought Dan was going to be the one' 

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