Paul Nicholls 2023/2024 Jumps Season Stable Tour: The Novice Chasers

• Paul Nicholls talks us through his leading novice chasers

• Setback rules Monmiral out until the new year

• Grade 1 targets for Stay Away Fay and Iceo

---

Novice Chasers

Stay Away Fay - He looks fantastic and is schooling great.

He kept progressing, is a strong stayer, won the Albert Bartlett impressively at Cheltenham then ran another sound race at Aintree. He is smart, won a Point-to-Point before joining us, looks fantastic and is schooling great. I'm looking forward to him starting over fences at Exeter early in November before maybe the Kauto Star Novice Chase at Kempton on Boxing Day. I might also consider a new £60,000 Novice Chase at Sandown.

Knappers Hill - He has taken to fences well

He makes his debut over fences on Saturday at Chepstow at the meeting where he has won for each of the last three years. It's fair to say he took a long time to get the hang of jumping hurdles but he was very slick last season and has done plenty of schooling ahead of Saturday.

He is not the biggest but he has taken to fences and I am hopeful he will be very good at chasing.

It will be a highly emotional day for everyone involved with Team Ditcheat if he wins on Saturday in the colours of my great friend and supporter Paul Barber who died in June.

We all miss him but I'm delighted to say his sons Chris and Giles love their racing, too, and with their families have picked up the mantle from Paul by taking over his horses and his colours.

Hermes Allen - Going nicely at home

He was the surprise package among our novice hurdlers last season, winning both the Grade 1 Challow Hurdle at Newbury and the Grade 2 Ballymore at Cheltenham.

He struggled a bit on his last two starts, has had a wind op and is going nicely at home. Hermes Allen won his Point-to-Point in Ireland, is smart, jumps soundly and may make his chasing debut at Newton Abbot on October 21 in a race in which novices get a nice allowance. We've won it a few times in recent years.

Tahmuras - He looks every inch a chaser

He was successful in the Grade 1 Tolworth Hurdle at Sandown, before being outgunned by the Irish at Cheltenham. A big, tall individual he looks every inch a chaser and should do really well now he goes chasing. He hasn't schooled yet but is coming along nicely and is likely to start in races over two and a half miles.

Henri The Second - Starts chasing on an attractive mark of 130

He was successful in a decent Grade 2 Novice Hurdle at Sandown that we have won in the past with See More Business and Neptune Collonges who were up there with the very best over fences. We felt his breathing was troubling him a bit as the season progressed so he has surgery to sort that out and is in great shape. He will start chasing on an attractive mark of 130 and should come into his own over three miles on soft ground.

---

Watch Paul in our Racing...Only Bettor jumps season preview

---

Quite a few are ready to run

Monmiral - Setback rules him out until the new year

He has had a little setback and is unlikely to be seen in action until after Xmas. He ran three very good races in defeat as a novice last season and looking at the horses that beat him, including Jonbon and The Real Whacker, he faced some seriously stiff tasks. I am hoping there is more to come from him when he resumes racing.

Iceo - Grade 1 Henry VIII the big season target

He missed the first half of the season but made up for that by winning the Imperial Cup in style in March and is already crying out for fences. I was delighted with his winning debut in a Novice Chase at Newton Abbot recently and he might well go back there on Saturday week before we up him in grade in the Henry VIII Chase at Sandown.

Golden Son - A horse with plenty of potential over fences

He arrived from France with a lofty reputation and we had high hopes for him before a leg injury put him on the sidelines for the season. The time off will not have done him any harm as he is only five and has plenty of potential over fences. He's probably a month off making his debut for us.

Ginny's Destiny - We like what we see

He has joined us from Tom Lacey having finished a decent second in a competitive Grade 2 novice event at Warwick on testing ground. We like what we see, he's been schooling nicely and looks an interesting recruit.

A few to note

I could mention plenty of other promising young chasers including Knowsley Road and Mofasa who joined us in the summer and showed potential when second on his debut over fences at Worcester at the end of September. The hardest part will be finding races for all of them.

---

Read the rest of Paul Nicholls stable tour HERE