Trainer Q&A: 'I felt my head was on the chopping block - he had to win'

Over the next few weeks we will bring you a series of app-exclusive Q&As with pro punters, trainers and jockeys which will offer unrivalled insight to our sport. This series continues this week with trainers. Today: champion trainer Paul Nicholls

Who's the best horse you ever trained?

We've trained some bloody smart ones, but I've got to say Kauto Star. You've just got to look at his record and the races he won at different tracks over different trips. That haul included two Gold Cups and five King Georges, so you don't really need to say more. He was awesome, the horse of a lifetime.

Who's your favourite horse of all time?

Again, I have to say Kauto. It's hard to single them out and pick a favourite, but he was. That said, I always loved Neptune Collonges, who won the Grand National for us. He was a bit of a one-paced horse who was around at the wrong time when Denman and Kauto were running in his Gold Cups, but he won plenty of good races including the National, which was a very special day. He was a proper horse.

Which winner has given you most satisfaction?

When Kauto won his fourth Betfair Chase at Haydock in 2011. He'd had a couple of ordinary runs in the spring that year and was pulled up at Punchestown, so I was getting plenty of stick that he should be retired and God knows what else. When he ran at Haydock, I felt my head was on the chopping block, so to go and win, and beat Long Run, the Gold Cup winner, was phenomenal. It was a very special and satisfying day, but I said to my head lad Clifford Baker that we couldn't run him if he wasn't right; he had to win.

What's the funniest thing you've seen on a racecourse?

This goes back to my riding days when a jockey who will remain nameless had just won a race on a 33-1 shot and thought he wouldn't have to weigh in. He did, and had been struggling with his weight, so chucked his saddle through the old weighing room window at Fontwell and weighed in with just the saddle cloth with the number on it – and he got away with it!

What’s the key to doing your job well?

Having a good team around you. I've always said it's Team Ditcheat here and it's an old cliche, but it is. And that's even when we've lost good people. Someone was following Dan [Skelton], Tom [Jonason] and Harry [Derham] to learn, so we were covered. You need a good team on board who are prepared to work with you.

What's the one thing the average punter most misunderstands about racing?

The importance of going and its impact on getting the best out of horses. I've always thought that, so the more you understand about weather forecasts and learn about tracks and the areas they are in, you'll be at a better advantage. You know the history of tracks, so if a clerk says it's soft you might know there'll be some good in it. Get to know the tracks.

Which horse are you most looking forward to running again?

I could have picked out any from 100, but Monmiral when he goes over fences. He won't be out for at least a month, though.

Can you give us a horse to follow?

He's a dark one – Matterhorn. He had one run at Auteuil last year when he was third and should have won; he made a bad mistake at the last. He's a big horse but we've given him lots of time and is one I really like. I was looking at him one night recently and said to Clifford what a gorgeous horse he is. He could start in a novice hurdle at Wincanton on November 5.

Read these pro punter Q&As:

Neil Channing: 'I've had a lot of wins that get near to that - but I've never beaten it' 

Andy Gibson: 'It was one of my biggest wins in terms of the difference it made to my life'  

David Gilbert: 'Oppose horses going up in grade and back those coming down in class'  

Steve Lewis Hamilton: 'Discipline is an essential ingredient to being a winner'  

Mark Holder: 'The bookmakers messed up and priced him at 25-1 - I got on what I could'