'Something isn't right' - Paul Nicholls stumped as he seeks reason for poor form

Paul Nicholls has decided not to send any runners to the track in the first part of this week while he and his team continue to search for a reason behind the stable's sudden loss of form.

The champion trainer might next send horses to the track on Thursday when the Grade 1-winning novice hurdler Stage Star is entered at Huntingdon, but Nicholls indicated he was not yet committed to that plan.

He will be hoping for a change of fortunes at Newbury on Saturday, when he will send out leading Betfair Hurdle contender Knappers Hill. He is also set to be represented by Clan Des Obeaux in the Denman Chase and unbeaten chaser Bravemansgame in the opening novice handicap chase.

Cheltenham hopeful Bravemansgame to run in novice handicap at Newbury

"A lot of ours have run disappointingly in the past fortnight or so," Nicholls wrote on his website on Monday morning.

"Despite all our combined experience, my head lad Clifford Baker and I can't find anything wrong with the horses.

"There is no sign of sickness or coughing or dirty noses in any of the three yards and all the tests we've taken have come back clear, even the ones on those that have run below par.

"The horses look great in their coats and continue to work well, eat well and none of them have had a temperature.

"We haven't seen a single warning sign that would normally tell us not to run them and I can't believe the problem has been caused by the annual midwinter flu jabs they get in the last week of December because that has never been an issue in the past."

Nicholls' Ditcheat stable has already passed 100 winners for the season and is well clear in the trainers' table with almost £1.8m in prize-money, but winners have become hard to come by in recent weeks.

Frodon: finished last in the Irish Gold Cup on SaturdayCredit: Patrick McCann (racingpost.com/photos)

From 40 runners in the last fortnight, just two have won at a strike rate of 5 per cent, much lower than the stable's 23 per cent rate for the whole season. Frodon and Greaneteen, Nicholls' raiders at the Dublin Racing Festival, were both last in their fiercely competitive contests.

"Something is not right somewhere," Nicholls continued. "We are now checking out the hay and feed. I do remember that we ran some tests in 2015-2016 after only three winners in January and discovered that the hay was low in potassium and calcium and quickly put that right. We are all over it, trying to get the answer.

"At some stage, every sportsman, team or racehorse trainer is bound to have a little bit of a quiet period when things don't go to plan. That is the nature of racing and sport. Then things come right and normal service is resumed."

'I think it's a very short-term thing'

Nicholls expanded on the subject later on Monday during a press conference to promote Betfair Hurdle day at Newbury this weekend. He said potassium and calcium was being added straight into his horses' feed since Sunday.

"We got some last week; we're suspicious that's what the problem is. Sometimes with haylage, the mineral level drops down, the older the hay is.

"We're just guessing; we're waiting for some tests to come back. If you saw the horses, you wouldn't know there was a problem. So this is just a little bit how it was in 2015-16."

Paul Nicholls: stats and form

Asked how quickly things might turn around if the mineral additives solved the problem, Nicholls said: "I think it's a very short-term thing. You've got to be positive and crack on until you know otherwise.

"Some of the ones we've run in the past month, you can put a line through it. We might have run some of them a bit quick. We wanted to go to Ireland with [Frodon and Greaneteen] and the ground went against them. Both like decent ground but of course they'd watered quite a bit and then had rain.

"Dolos won at the weekend, one or two ran a bit disappointing and we're trying to find out why. But we'll never turn the corner if we keep ducking the issue and not running them."

Nicholls' high-profile potential runners this week

Nicholls' problems come at an inopportune moment as he has some high-profile entries for later this week and on Newbury's Saturday card. Here are the potential stars who could look to turn around the fortunes of the champion trainer this week . . .

Sidney Banks Novices' Hurdle (3.10), Huntingdon, Thursday

He's looked a star in the making and extended his unbeaten record over hurdles to three when storming home in the Grade 1 Challow Hurdle at the end of December. The Ballymore is a likely target for him at Cheltenham, but his participation in this Listed contest at Huntingdon remains up in the air.

Denman Chase (2.25), Newbury, Saturday or Novices' Limited Handicap Chase (1.15), Newbury Saturday

Nicholls' star staying chaser for the future has breezed past his opposition with the minimum of fuss so far this season and looks set to run in Newbury's novice handicap chase before heading on to the spring festivals, although he does also have the option of the Denman Chase.

Clan Des Obeaux: entered in the Denman ChaseCredit: Mark Cranham (racingpost.com/photos)

Denman Chase (2.25), Newbury, Saturday

He was last seen finishing second to Tornado Flyer in the King George at Christmas. Nicholls chose to skip the Irish Gold Cup at the Dublin Racing Festival in favour of the Denman, a race the ten-year-old won in 2019 but finished second to stablemate Secret Investor in last year.

Game Spirit Chase (3.00), Newbury, Saturday

The Tingle Creek runner-up has always been highly thought of at home and as one of just six entries for the Game Spirit on Monday, this could be a good opportunity for the lightly raced six-year-old to claim a first Graded success.

Betfair Hurdle (3.35), Newbury, Saturday

The Grade 2 bumper winner made a cosy start to life over hurdles with two victories in the autumn before being far from disgraced behind Jonbon at Ascot last time. He's co-favourite with the sponsors for Britain's richest handicap hurdle, a race in which novices tend to do well.

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The Front Runner is our latest email newsletter available exclusively to Members' Club Ultimate subscribers. Chris Cook, a four-time Racing Reporter of the Year award winner, provides his take on the day's biggest stories and tips for the upcoming racing every morning from Monday to Friday