Watch Paul Nicholls' Ditcheat Diaries: John Hales was a wonderful man and great friend to the yard

  • Published on
  • Updated on
  • 3:00 min read
Watch Paul Nicholls' Ditcheat Diaries

Betfair ambassador Paul Nicholls reflects on his weekend runners with Barry Orr and provides an update on what's next for Team Ditcheat as well as more Cheltenham Festival plans...


The weekend was marred by the sad news that racehorse owner John Hales - who owned the Paul Nicholls-trained Grand National winner Neptune Collonges - has died at the age of 85.

You can hear Paul pay tribute to his friend and colleague at the start of this week's Ditcheat Diaries.


Watch Paul Nicholls' Ditcheat Diaries - New Episode


Back in business after Ditcheat floods

A week ago Ditcheat was hit by what Paul called "biblical floods" that saw gallops subermerged in water and disrupted the yard's plans. So what is the situation now and was there any permanent damage?

"The team here worked really hard," said Paul, "and by Thursday everything was back up and running. We are full steam ahead again now. 

"It is thanks to a lot of hard work that all the gallops are in good shape again."

Insurrection impresses in win

Insurrection won by 16 lengths at Musselburgh on Sunday after Paul picked him as his best chance of the day. It was particularly fitting that the race was named after Ditcheat legend Frodon.

Paul said: "That was a nice race to win. Insurection was very good, back right-handed, which seems to suit him. He had decent ground as well. 

"It was nice to have a winner on the board. I hope the handicapper doesn't take the form literally. He won by 16 lengths and I think the third was another 30-odd lengths behind him. 

"I haven't really got a plan for where Insurrection will go next. But it was good to get him back in the winner's enclosure."

Henri pleases with Second at Sandown

On Saturday, Henri The Second finished as the runner-up in a competitive handicap at Sandown. 

"He ran a credible race," said Paul. "He was probably the only one of ours that enjoyed the testing ground [at Sandown on Saturday]. 

"I don't know what we will do with him next. Any horse that ran at Sandown on Saturday knows they had a hard race, so they will not want to go again too soon."

Kalif Du Berlais will miss Cheltenham Festival

How did Kalif Du Berlais come out of his race at Sandown after finishing fourth of four?

"It is easy to say in hindsight that I wish I hadn't let him run... I had my suspicions that he [would not enjoy] two-and-a-half miles in that testing ground. It might have been different in good ground.

"We will stick to two miles. we will give him a nice, long break now. I do not see him going to Cheltenham. We will probably take him to Aintree. That will be his only run this season."


This is a condensed summary of Paul Nicholls' Ditcheat Diaries. Watch the latest episode now to hear the full conversation and read Paul's exclusive preview of his runners every week on Betting.Betfair.


Now read today's racing previews and get our experts' tips


Discover the latest articles