Nicholls: switching yards so close to Cheltenham Festival a risky prospect

Switching horses to different yards so close to a major target is full of risks, Britain's 11-time champion trainer Paul Nicholls outlined on Tuesday.

Nicholls, in line for a 12th title this season, was reacting to the news the Thompson family's Cheveley Park Stud will send eight horses trained by Gordon Elliott to Willie Mullins and Henry de Bromhead, who will welcome unbeaten superstar Envoi Allen, the red-hot favourite for the Marsh Novices' Chase at the Cheltenham Festival in two weeks.

The move is in response to a picture surfacing of Elliott sitting on a dead horse – actions that will be investigated by the IHRB on Friday and have led to the BHA barring entries from his yard until it is concluded.

Weatherbys Champion Bumper hope Sir Gerhard joins Mullins, who lost a host of Jared Sullivan-owned horses to Nicholls last year.

"It wouldn't be ideal for horse or trainer," Nicholls said.

"You wouldn't want to be changing a horse's diet so close to Cheltenham. It would have a massive impact, it wouldn't be increasing your chances.

"You'd almost want to be on the same hay, the same feed, the same diet. People do things so totally different.

"I had quite a lot of horses come to us from Willie's this year and it's taken them the best part of a year to get used to our routine. It would have been the same the other way round.

"It is quite a shock for the horses. It's not going to be an advantage moving so close to Cheltenham, that's for sure."

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