- More
'We'll have him mad fresh on the day' - Paul Nicholls' horse-by-horse guide to his Cheltenham Festival team
Lewis Porteous gets the lowdown on Paul Nicholls' squad for the Cheltenham Festival
In his own words champion trainer Paul Nicholls is preparing a "small but select" team for the Cheltenham Festival, but the one thing punters can be assured of is that there will be no social runners on the Ditcheat team sheet.
Nicholls has never lost sight of the fact that there are plenty of big races outside the festival to target but, make no mistake about it, he is still passionate about conquering at the biggest meeting of them all.
"We've probably got a small but select team this year, but I'm happy with that and I'm not going to go mad," says Nicholls. "You've got to be selective and run horses with chances, otherwise you completely waste their season and waste owners' time. You've got to be sensible and I'm dead happy to go there with the horses I've got."
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
Published on inStable Tours
Last updated
Copy- 'He’s been improving and has earned his ticket to a race like this' - Nicky Henderson goes through his festive squad
- 'I think she'll take a good bit of beating' - Dan Skelton on his exceptional festive team
- 'Hopefully he's not badly treated in a handicap' - Gavin Cromwell on his festive hopes
- 'It's going to be a hot Grade 1 but he's well up to it' - Paul Nicholls on his festive hopes
- 'We hope he's a Triumph Hurdle horse, so until he tells us otherwise we'll be aiming him that way'
- 'He’s been improving and has earned his ticket to a race like this' - Nicky Henderson goes through his festive squad
- 'I think she'll take a good bit of beating' - Dan Skelton on his exceptional festive team
- 'Hopefully he's not badly treated in a handicap' - Gavin Cromwell on his festive hopes
- 'It's going to be a hot Grade 1 but he's well up to it' - Paul Nicholls on his festive hopes
- 'We hope he's a Triumph Hurdle horse, so until he tells us otherwise we'll be aiming him that way'