'If things aren't quite right I'm amazed at how quickly some people can start doubting you - and that hurts'

A trip down memory lane is not a habitual practice for Paul Nicholls but echoes of the past are hard to avoid in a place like this. 

The Manor House Inn has been open barely a month since changing hands in 2023 but it has been given the seal of approval by the village's most famous resident, no doubt in part to the racing silks of Gold Cups from yesteryear still adorning the wall in the pub's main dining area. 

Nicholls orders a cappuccino and selects a table near the window, from where he can view the road on which Kauto Star, Denman and Neptune Collonges once triumphantly paraded through a swell of racing fans. There is no such hullabaloo in Ditcheat this afternoon. The horses have been and gone for the day and the pub sits empty, waiting for the first locals to arrive for lunch. It is a quiet, unassuming moment in a quiet, unassuming spring by the lofty standards of the 14-time champion trainer, despite not long having passed since a landmark Cheltenham Festival winner.