Pedal to the metal in search of eleventh title

Paul Nicholls was forced to take time out one day last week to receive treatment on a troublesome knee. Luckily the problem didn’t spread to his foot, which has stayed glued to the accelerator. It is 25 years since he began churning out winners from Manor Farm Sables and in all that time his passion and enthusiasm for the job has never dimmed. Watching him in recent weeks you’d think he was chasing his first trainers’ championship, not title number 11.

To say he’s been on fire would be an understatement. His October tally of 29 winners represents his second-best score in a calendar month, and although titles are not won at this stage of the season, all of a sudden his rivals must feel as if they are scrapping for places.
Establishing an unusually healthy advantage at the top of the table by early November may come in handy later on, as Nicholls admits he lacks high-profile candidates for the championship Grade 1s at Cheltenham, but such is the white-hot form of the string it is inconceivable a number of potent challengers won’t emerge before March.

We should pay particular attention to a strong team of second-season four-year-olds and a talented team of former bumper performers. Yes, it’s to the youth academy that Nicholls will look to build on a record-breaking start.