Paul Nicholls: Jubilee Alpha and Maldini Milano among my best chances on Saturday

• Paul cracks £1m in prize money and has a 24% strike rate

• Some big chances at Sandown and Wincanton to add to his tally

• Perfect race for Jubliee Alpha who is one of his best chances of the day

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Paul on NYD winners and reaching £1m in prize money

Our excellent festive season continued on New Year's Day with more winners. Olive rode a nice winner up at Musselburgh on Fasol, he might just have an entry in the Lanzarote next Saturday if it stays dry.

Falls Of Acharn ran very nicely, he'll probably go back to Musselburgh for the trials day on 1 February, there's so much improvement to come from him. And it was great to see Toothless win because he's been very unlucky, he nearly died of colic 18 months ago, so credit to the team at home for getting him back on the course, it was great to see him win.

We've cracked a million pound in prize money for the season, we're right on Ollie Murphy's tail. If we have a good Saturday we could end up second in the Trainers' Championship, so we've not been doing too bad. We have a good strike rate, 24%, which not a lot of people can match. So we'll just keep cracking on and see where we are.

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Sandown

12:15 - Pourquoi Pas Papa

He'll definitely improve for his debut run and slightly better ground will help him also. It looks like we just have one to beat and that's a horse that I used to train, Sinnatra, but we're getting the best part of a stone off him which is a bit like the other day with Minella Yoga.

We're hopeful he'll run a very nice race but Sinnatra is a very nice horse, he won't be a pushover, but we're pleased with the way we've progressed and I like these four-year-olds getting all the weight off the older horses.

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13:15 - Sonigino

He ran alright at Newbury last time, he hadn't run for a long time and had some problems so he needed that run badly, and going to the third last he was traveling really well. He just got a bit tired so Olive eased him down, so he's bound to improve a lot for that run, a bit like Toothless did from his first run to Windsor who won for us on New Year's Day, so I won't be surprised if he runs very nicely.

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13:15 - Henri The Second

He had a pretty bad experience over fences the last day so we're not going to bother with fences with him again. He's on a bit of a recovery mission, we just want to get a bit of confidence back into him so I would say that he will improve for the run.

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14:25 - Jubilee Alpha

She carried 12 stone in a handicap last time and I don't think she's the best handicapped horse in the world. She's not overly big and the race didn't really suit her the last day, she got a little bit further behind than I would have liked, and then of course with 12 stone it's hard to make up ground.

This Listed race is much more suitable for her where she doesn't have to carry 12 stone, I'd say this is a perfect race for her, we're looking forward to seeing her run.

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15:35 - Nardaran

He had an entry at Kempton just after Christmas but he was slightly lame on the morning of the race so we couldn't run him, but luckily enough there's another suitable race for him here.

He was pulled up when chasing a hat-trick at Plumpton the last day but I don't know what happened that day, I had three runners and they all ran shocking races so I've put a line through that last run.

He's come out of that race well, he's had a nice little break, he's in good shape and I can see him running really well, and of course he's won at Sandown before so I think he's a nice price, I think he will run very well.

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Wincanton

12:27 - Outlaw Peter

He's been very hard to train, he only had the two runs last year. I was surprised the last day he ran that he was such a short price favourite to be honest, he was third of three but he needed that run. When you've had these horses with injuries you can't get them back at the peak of their powers on their first run, so he'll improve for that run.

He looks great, he'll go very well as a small field will suit him. He could probably do with a little bit further than two miles four but we'll ride him accordingly.

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13:30 - Wicked Thoughts

He was entered on Boxing Day but we weren't quite happy with him, he's in much better nick now and the ground's dryer which suits him. That was the big issue really, the ground was too soft on Boxing Day, it's dried up nicely so I think he's got a lovely chance.

But bear in mind he's in a handicap on only his second run over fences but I'd say he's a progressive young horse and he looks great. Freddie Keighley schooled him on Friday morning so it's all systems go.

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14:05 - Him Malaya

I can't work out whether he wants two miles or three miles to be honest as he always seems to finish off his races the same way. The ground will suit him, it's a 0-110 so he's down in grade a fraction so I'd say, as always, he's got another chance.

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14:40 - Maldini Milano

He won at Plumpton in November and now goes handicapping. I think he's one of our best chances of the day, a mark of 114 is very workable. He jumped very nicely the last day having had a few hiccups prior to that but I fancy he'll go very well here.

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14:40 - George Henry

He was disappointing the last day but he was too high in the weights and the ground was too soft. We need to see some improvement before he goes chasing.

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15:50 - Hydration Station

He won his last point-to-point and I think the horse he beat there (Kent De Thaix) is now rated 119 under rules, that would be good enough to win this race. He had a wind op earlier in the season so he will improve for the run having had that wind op but he goes nicely, he's a big strong horse and we'll learn a lot more about him here.

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15:50 - A King Of Magic

He's run two solid races and I think he'll make a lovely novice hurdler. I just think he will improve for the experience today.

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