Paul Nicholls: 'Why can't he win a Gold Cup? Galopin Des Champs is very smart and hard to beat - but we're right in the mix'

If there is one thing Paul Nicholls does not require anymore of it is enthusiasm. Yet off the back of a record-breaking season over jumps, the champion trainer sounds more pumped than ever about the new campaign.

For 32 years he has battled the elements through the bleakest months of the year to keep the winners flowing from his Somerset base, yet when was the last time you heard him moan about the early starts or inclement weather?

Training mud-loving jumpers is what he was born to do and this is a time of year he adores, plotting battle plans for his 150-strong battalion and ready for the fun and games to begin.