Paul Nicholls firmly sat on speculation that he had made a decision about Frodon’s target for the Cheltenham Festival, insisting the horse’s options would be kept open for another week. The Somerset trainer was standing alongside Frodon’s owner, Paul Vogt, as he spoke, the pair of them having combined to win the Greatwood Gold Cup with San Benedeto on Saturday.
Nicholls responded to a suggestion by ITV’s Matt Chapman that the trainer was on the point of giving up on Frodon as a Gold Cup candidate and redirecting the horse to the shorter, less prestigious Ryanair. “Matt keeps harping on about it,” Nicholls said, “but I’ve said all along, I will decide when I’ve looked at the races, see what the ground is. If the Ryanair cuts up and I think we can win it, that’s where we’ll run him.
“If that race is very, very hot and the Gold Cup cut up a little bit and we thought he could run well, we could go in that. With any of these horses, if you’ve got options, you wait till the last minute.”
But Nicholls also spoke enthusiastically when asked about the preparation of his main Gold Cup contender, Clan Des Obeaux. “He went three times up the hill this morning, looks fantastic, very, very happy with him,” Nicholls said.
Clan Des Obeaux’s impressive success at Ascot a fortnight ago may have been a key moment in deciding Frodon’s destination at the Festival. That proved Clan Des Obeaux’s King George success was no fluke and it would be no surprise if, in the light of that effort, Nicholls feels in his bones that Frodon would struggle to compete with his stablemate.
In any case, Vogt appears content to be guided by Nicholls and he has every reason to be happy with his trainer, in view of San Benedeto’s 11-1 success. The winner has no Cheltenham target and is likely to go to Aintree next month for the Topham Trophy.
Richard Johnson’s participation on this card did not last long, the champion jockey being unseated in the opening race and then kicked in the back by a runner following behind. Johnson limped off the track without assistance before giving up his remaining rides. He later tweeted that he was “just stiff and sore” and would be back in action “very soon”.
The suggestion appears to be that Johnson might not ride on Sunday but plans to ride at Fakenham on Monday. In any case, he is not currently thought to be at all doubtful for the Festival, where his rides include Native River, the reigning Gold Cup hero.
Might Bite, who chased that one home at Cheltenham last year, will be at Newbury on Sunday morning for a school over 10 fences, with his Festival-bound stablemates Santini and On The Blind Side. Their trainer, Nicky Henderson, said: “They’ve schooled at home but I just wanted them to come and jump some proper fences.”
Henderson added that the champion hurdler Buveur D’Air had impressed in a bit of work at Seven Barrows on Saturday, leaving his jockey, Barry Geraghty, “more pleased than I’ve seen him for a long time”.
Huntingdon
2.00 Ferrobin 2.30 Sweet Adare 3.00 Station Master 3.35 Lord Of The Rock 4.05 Holbrook Park (nap) 4.40 Auenwirbel 5.10 Volunteer
Sedgefield
2.20 Arthur Mac 2.50 Moving In Style (nb) 3.20 Transpennine Star
3.55 Cap Du Nord 4.25 Very Extravagant 5.00 Stony Stream
