The secret of success: Aidan O'Brien's rare insight into the mind of this 'very weird' genius
At this time last year I went to interview Paul Nicholls as he geared up for his annual assault on the King George at Christmas which, as it turned out, proved successful with Bravemansgame.
Nicholls was operating at a ridiculously high strike-rate and I was eager to find out how, after so many years at the top of his profession, he was still managing to eke out more.
He said one of the secrets to success was to never stand still and, regardless of how well the previous season might have gone, he and his right-hand man Clifford Baker made a point of tweaking at least one tried-and-trusted method at the start of the new campaign, just to see if they could make a marginal gain to help keep them ahead of the chasing pack.
Read the full story
Read award-winning journalism from the best writers in racing, with exclusive news, interviews, columns, investigations, stable tours and subscriber-only emails.
Subscribe to unlock
- Racing Post digital newspaper (worth over £100 per month)
- Award-winning journalism from the best writers in racing
- Expert tips from the likes of Tom Segal and Paul Kealy
- Replays and results analysis from all UK and Irish racecourses
- Form study tools including the Pro Card and Horse Tracker
- Extensive archive of statistics covering horses, trainers, jockeys, owners, pedigree and sales data
Already a subscriber?Log in
Copy- We're all bit players in Willie's World - but spare a thought for the man who would be king in any other era
- Repeat winners, raw emotion and awesome amateurs: there are still plenty of potential Grand National fairytales
- He wasn’t even there - but the Caldwell dispersal sale still revealed the most important factor behind Willie Mullins’ dominance
- Prize-money differences mean data on Sunday evening trials comes with an enormous caveat
- Reasons to be fearful: jump racing's very existence might even be at risk unless major issues are addressed
- We're all bit players in Willie's World - but spare a thought for the man who would be king in any other era
- Repeat winners, raw emotion and awesome amateurs: there are still plenty of potential Grand National fairytales
- He wasn’t even there - but the Caldwell dispersal sale still revealed the most important factor behind Willie Mullins’ dominance
- Prize-money differences mean data on Sunday evening trials comes with an enormous caveat
- Reasons to be fearful: jump racing's very existence might even be at risk unless major issues are addressed