Paul Nicholls: Festival was tough but family always comes first

Paul Nicholls is famous for his dedication to racing excellence but nothing comes before the health and happiness of his family, as he explains here in a frank and moving article.

Cheltenham was obviously a trying week, but the last few days have put racing into perspective.

You may have wondered why you haven't read any updates from me here since Friday, or seen me quoted anywhere in the press; well, the reason is that my youngest daughter, one-year-old Zara, has been very ill.

She was taken into hospital on Saturday morning, and was released home later that evening. But on Sunday morning we had to get the ambulance out again, as she took a turn for the worse, and it was touch-and-go for a while. We were worried, I can tell you.

Thankfully, she seems a bit better today but she will be in hospital for a while yet, and I have been to and from Yeovil hospital these past few days. We don't know exactly what the problem is with Zara, but it seems that she has picked up a very nasty virus.

I was ill myself before Cheltenham - Dan nearly took me to hospital on the way back from the Imperial Cup meeting at Sandown and for the first time I can remember in my life I never got out of bed the next day, suffering with a fever - and during the Festival I was still suffering badly from a chest infection.

So Zara's illness certainly put Cheltenham disappointments, and Kauto Star pulling up, into perspective.

Everyone knows how committed I am to my work, but it doesn't really need saying that my family has and always will come first when they need me.

So you will forgive me, at this moment in time, if I don't get too downbeat about my Cheltenham disappointments, or Kauto Star overstretching himself jumping the water and pulling up in the Gold Cup.

We just ran out of time with him. But Kauto is 100pc, and we will canter him away and rough him off for the summer and see where we stand when he comes back in.

But any talk of retirement is very premature. Clive and I haven't even discussed it, and I dare say we won't in any great detail until Kauto comes back in, in July. This season told everyone not to be so hasty in writing him off.

It may sound strange, given that we won a Champion Hurdle with Rock On Ruby and a fourth World Hurdle with Big Buck's, but Cheltenham really was a week where anything that could go wrong did go wrong. It was a testing four days.

Yes, we had some other horses placed and run really well in defeat, such as Edgardo Sol in the County, and Harry The Viking in the four miler, and the latter will now be aimed at the Scottish National.

But it is fair to say that luck and fate weren't really with us all week. And even the weeks leading up to the Festival were clearly not ideal. I think the coughing left its mark on a few, which is always a danger.

Noland and Al Ferof were both going well before bad mistakes put paid to their chances on the opening day, then we had Kauto Stone fall at the first in the Champion Chase, Pearl Swan falling at the last when just getting into the Triumph, and then What A Friend falling for the first time in his life at the second in the Gold Cup.

The way the finish was fought out, you would have to think he would have been in the shake-up in the Gold Cup.

Sonofvic also came to grief in the Pertemps and I don't think I have ever had so many horses fail to complete at The Festival - 13 in total, I think - and they were finding all ways of getting beaten. If indeed they were allowed to race.

Poquelin was withdrawn at the start of the Ryanair with what appeared little more substantial than a bitten lip - I think he could have raced - and my final runner of the week summed it up for me, when Toubab got brought down when going well in the Grand Annual - by Free World, a horse I used to train.

You couldn't make it up.

And some horses returned home poorly. Cristal Bonus ran very badly in the Jewson and had me scratching my head, but we knew the reason why on Friday morning when a bad abscess appeared on his whither.

Admittedly, some horses simply weren't up to the job on the ground. For example, in hindsight, perhaps I should have run Join Together in the four miler, as he probably isn't a Grade 1 performer over 3m, and needs more cut in the ground.

So we have now lost our lead to Nicky, who had a unbelievable Festival and I would like to congratulate him here, in the trainers' title. We are about £9,000 behind, but we had a nice winner with Mr Hudson yesterday and we will now regroup.

Nicky may be 1-3 to win the title but we aren't giving up just yet, and we go to Aintree and Ayr with a strong, and a fresh, team of horses.

Brampour will run in the Scottish Champion Hurdle, where Harry will be able to claim, and Celestial Halo will join Big Buck's in the three miler at Aintree. Al Ferof, who was mixing it with Sprinter Sacre when making a crucial mistake in the Arkle, has the option of both meetings.

Rock On Ruby and Zarkandar could both go to the 2m4f race at Liverpool. In hindsight, Zarkandar could have been ridden closer to the pace in the Champion Hurdle but he finished strongly into fifth, probably running a career-best, and a longer trip will suit him. And Prospect Wells ran a blinder in the Supreme, as did Dodging Bullets in the Triumph.

So with the likes of Sanctuaire and others who bypassed Cheltenham such as Silviniaco Conti, we clearly have plenty of ammunition to fire at the big meetings ahead, so I am not conceding the title to Nicky just yet.

But that isn't the most pressing matter on my mind now, as you will appreciate.

Paul Nicholls / 19 Mar 2012

Paul Nicholls: Festival was tough but family always comes first

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Paul's team are regrouping after the Festival

"Talk of retirement is very premature. Clive and I haven’t even discussed it, and I dare say we won’t in any great detail until Kauto comes back in, in July. This season told everyone not to be so hasty in writing him off."