Big blow for Harry Whittington as stable stars moved to Paul Nicholls

Harry Whittington is determined to bounce back following the huge setback of losing stable stars Saint Calvados, Rouge Vif and Simply The Betts, whose owner Andrew Brooks has decided to move the string of horses he has with the trainer to Paul Nicholls.

Whittington, who is based near Lambourn in Sparsholt, began training for Brooks in the 2016-17 campaign and success was not long in coming thanks to the classy Saint Calvados, who won Warwick's Kingmaker Novices' Chase in 2018 before finishing second in the 2020 Ryanair Chase at the Cheltenham Festival and then a fine fourth in last season's King George VI Chase at Kempton.

Rouge Vif is another smart performer to strike at Graded level for the combination, while Simply The Betts – named after the owner's late friend and colleague Chris Betts – won the race known as the Plate at last year's festival.