Paul Nicholls celebrates 3,000th jumps victory in Britain with Cheltenham win

Paul Nicholls on Thursday hailed reaching "a great landmark" when Kupatana's victory at Cheltenham provided the trainer with his 3,000th jumps winner in Britain.

Nicholls became just the third trainer to reach the milestone, joining Martin Pipe and Nicky Henderson, and the ten-time champion immediately set his sights on reaching 4,000.

Nicholls, who was on track at Cheltenham, said: "It's been an amazing journey and to get my 3,000th winner at Cheltenham is just brilliant. I'll be looking for the 4,000 now – all we've got to do is keep going and getting the nice horses and it's perfectly achievable.

"It's been quite a while in coming as we knew we were close to the 3,000 but I think the expectation of getting there has meant quite a lot of pressure. But we've done it now so we can all take our foot off the pedal a bit and relax.

"Obviously it's a great landmark in my training career as getting that amount of winners on the board from when I started out almost 30 years ago is something to be very proud of, but I couldn't have done it without everybody back at home as they all work hard and do their bit.

"We've had plenty of big-race victories down the years and I hope there are a lot more to come as we've got some very nice young horses at home for next season, and they are the future. I'm just as driven as I always have been and it's winners that count."

Nicholls, who started training in 1991 and turned 57 on Wednesday, is the all-time ninth winningmost trainer in Britain, with Kauto Star, Denman, See More Business, Big Buck’s and Master Minded among jump racing greats to have been trained by the Ditcheat maestro.

An 11th trainers’ championship appears likely for Nicholls, who leads Henderson by around £400,000 in the standings with the campaign coming to a close at Sandown a week on Saturday.

A four-time Gold Cup-winning trainer, Nicholls has saddled 45 winners at the Cheltenham Festival and boasts 126 top-level successes.

Neptune Collonges provided the former jump jockey, whose daughter Megan rides on the Flat, with a memorable Grand National triumph under Daryl Jacob in 2012.

Kauto Star: a dual Gold Cup winner for Paul NichollsCredit: Edward Whitaker

Nicholls has saddled six Grade 1 winners this season, including Clan Des Obeaux in the King George VI Chase, Cyrname – the highest-rated jumps horse in training – scoring at the top level for the first time in the Ascot Chase, and Topofthegame and Frodon striking in the RSA and Ryanair Chase at Cheltenham last month.

Tributes from his peers

Nicky Henderson
It's a great feat getting there by any standards and Paul is a master trainer as he got his 3,000th rather quicker than I did. It took him 28 years and it took me closer to 38.

Dan Skelton
What took him so long? But seriously, it's a mega achievement by any standards and knowing him so well, as I do, I know he will be looking for another 3,000 as I'm saying this.

Henry Daly
Paul is a master of public relations and a bloody good trainer as well. Put the two together in this day and age and you have the formula for success and getting 3,000 winners in the bag is just what I mean.

Ian Williams
It's fantastic from a true champion as Paul has achieved what he has from a standing start and deserves all the plaudits for what he has done.

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