Latest News / Paul Nicholls / 28 November 2011 / 2

It's party time at Manor Farm as Paul celebrates his 2,000th winner and with a phenomenal cast of hurdlers at Ditcheat hopes are high that the team can land one of the sport's biggest prizes at Cheltenham 2012

Collectively, I have got the best set of hurdlers I have ever had at Ditcheat.

And I can tell you that the race that has so far eluded me that I most want to win is not the Grand National - it is the Champion Hurdle.

And I now have three live, if outside, hopes of doing so. Perhaps four if you include Sanctuaire, though he is rated 150 and is stranded in no-man's land, I fear.

Triumph Hurdle winner Zarkandar remains my number one for the Champion Hurdle but I am in no rush with him, and it wouldn't concern me in the slightest if we waited and went straight to the Kingwell at Wincanton in February. He got cast in his box a while ago and knocked his hind shin bone, but he is fine now.

But plans are open for my two up-and-coming hurdlers in Brampour and Rock On Ruby, and I very doubt if these will be seen in handicaps again. Greatwood Hurdle winner Brampour has obviously improved greatly for his breathing operation and Rock On Ruby was clearly highly impressive, far more than I could ever have hoped, in giving 24lb and a six length beating to Empire Levant on Saturday.

At the moment I am in favour of running Brampour in the Bula at Cheltenham, and sending Rock On Ruby to the Christmas Hurdle at Kempton. But nothing has been decided yet.

It is not just my Champion Hurdle hopefuls that are exciting me, either. Cheltenham winner Hinterland currently heads my juvenile team, and you have to be impressed by Prospects Wells this season and I could see him developing into a Champion Hurdle horse next season. Not bad for a horse that literally refused to leave the ground when he first joined us.

And, oh yes, Big Buck's seems to be doing OK in the staying hurdles, too. We recently got a decent new horse in the yard in the former Chester Vase winner Ted Spread, so things are looking very bright on the hurdling front, with plenty of exciting youngsters and prospects still to run.

So let's hope we can keep the Saturday roadshow on track this weekend; Elton John may think Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting, but Saturday afternoons are where we like to get our little action in. There is no complacency at Ditcheat, and never will be, but Saturdays are the days that really count outside of the major Festivals.

Yes, we have had some big disappointments along the way, among them the Hennessy. But we have been very fortunate to have some great weekends of late and, fingers crossed, Tataniano can be the star of the show in the Tingle Creek, a race we aim to win for the seventh successive time.

But I have covered my options in also declaring Kauto Stone today, just in case the weather deteriorates and we get very soft ground at Sandown. But if we don't, then I strongly suspect that he will wait for either the Peterborough Chase or the John Durkan. The former is my preferred option at the moment. But obviously, the Tingle Creek looks a very hot race whichever horse I run.

Al Ferof will run in the Henry VIII Chase at Sandown and other notable and probable runners at the weekend include Niche Market in the Becher and Frankie Figg in the Sefton.

But more about them in my columns here on Friday and Saturday; it is party time here tonight as I am taking 80 staff out to celebrate us reaching the 2,000 winner mark and Kauto's great win at Haydock.

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1. compton9m | 28 November 2011

   Please could you tell me how is Denman, and when will he be racing again?Great to see Kauto Star back to his best.

2. Vaughan Woolley | 28 November 2011

   Thought Rock on Ruby was really impressive giving his decent stable mate all that weight... hmmm

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