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National Hunt Trainers Championship: Nicholls vs Henderson

Old Vic

Old Vic

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Might be interesting to track this through the season.

Current Standings

Nicholls
WINS RUNS % 2NDS 3RDS 4THS WIN PRIZE TOTAL PRIZE £1 STAKE
49 189 26% 39 17 22 £468,407 £614,541 -31.41

Main Horses contributing
Al Ferof J Hales 172 1 1 £91,120 £91,120 +8.00
Silviniaco Conti Chris Giles & Potensis Limited 166 1 1 £56,950 £56,950 +1.10
Dodging Bullets Martin Broughton & Friends 150 2 2 £33,006 £33,006 +2.16
Zarkandar Chris Giles & Potensis Limited 163 1 1 £32,746 £32,746 +3.33
Shooters Wood W A Harrison-Allan 134 1 5 £28,152 £35,634 +3.00
Tidal Bay Andrea & Graham Wylie 157 1 1 £18,224 £18,224 +4.50
Far West Axom XXXIX 145 2 2 £17,487 £17,487 +3.75
Prince Tom Mrs Angela Tincknell & W Tincknell 143 3 5 £15,856 £16,620 +2.26
Hinterland Chris Giles & Potensis Limited 143 1 2 £14,296 £17,285 +0.00
Sire Collonges Mrs Angela Tincknell & W Tincknell 154 2 3 £13,911 £17,607 +5.50
Wonderful Charm R J H Geffen 142 1 1 £12,073 £12,073 +0.73
There's No Panic The Stewart Family 134 2 3 £11,177 £11,177 +2.50
Ghizao The Johnson & Stewart Families 150 1 1 £10,749 £10,749 +0.57


Hobbs
WINS RUNS % 2NDS 3RDS 4THS WIN PRIZE TOTAL PRIZE £1 STAKE
25 194 13% 28 16 26 £201,629 £333,724 -23.73

Biggest contributors
The Disengager Govier & Brown 145 4 8 £43,420 £45,278 +17.00
Balthazar King The Brushmakers 149 1 2 £31,280 £35,900 +8.00
Wishfull Thinking Mrs Diana L Whateley 160 1 2 £31,280 £45,171 -0.27
Lamb Or Cod Terry Warner 130 1 1 £19,933 £19,933 +3.50
Marufo Mrs Michelle Isaacs 135 1 1 £12,512 £12,512 +3.50
Rob Conti P J Hobbs 133 2 5 £10,589 £13,547 +4.00
Fingal Bay Mrs R J Skan 151 1 2 £7,323 £11,134 -0.39


McCain
WINS RUNS % 2NDS 3RDS 4THS WIN PRIZE TOTAL PRIZE £1 STAKE
69 307 22% 45 38 25 £246,651 £318,488 -73.42

Main contributors so far
HORSE OWNER RPR WINS RUNS WINNINGS EARNINGS £1 STAKE
Red Merlin Timeform Betfair Racing Club & M Taylor 143 1 1 £31,323 £31,323 +6.50
Across The Bay Scotch Piper Syndicate 155 2 2 £19,757 £19,757 +4.91
Mulligan's Man Crowe Partnership 1 125 4 5 £9,812 £10,096 +1.45

Henderson
WINS RUNS % 2NDS 3RDS 4THS WIN PRIZE TOTAL PRIZE £1 STAKE
41 145 28% 23 17 7 £227,355 £317,935 -3.32

Main Horses contributing
HORSE OWNER RPR WINS RUNS WINNINGS EARNINGS £1 STAKE
Roberto Goldback Simon Munir 162 1 1 £56,270 £56,270 +9.00
Nadiya De La Vega John P McManus 150 1 2 £31,280 £48,400 +9.00
Captain Conan Triermore Stud 151 1 1 £14,238 £14,238 +1.10
Cape Express A D Spence 137 4 5 £12,632 £12,632 +8.29
Une Artiste Simon Munir 139 1 1 £11,390 £11,390 +1.63


Pipe
WINS RUNS % 2NDS 3RDS 4THS WIN PRIZE TOTAL PRIZE £1 STAKE
33 243 14% 27 28 31 £210,194 £285,113 -82.6

King
WINS RUNS % 2NDS 3RDS 4THS WIN PRIZE TOTAL PRIZE £1 STAKE
18 121 15% 22 23 18 £86,795 £197,765 -33.38
 
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Some big money match ups this weekend

Betfair Chase Long Run vs Silvi Winner £112k

A few dangers in races below but also ..

Ascot Hurdle Oscar W vs Brampour Winner £50K
Amlin 1965 Finians vs Ghizao Winner £28K
 
Henderson into second in table but Nicholls now up £349,016 ahead.

Nicholls
WINS RUNS % 2NDS 3RDS 4THS WIN PRIZE TOTAL PRIZE £1 STAKE
52 202 26% 41 23 23 £607,202 £789,245 -33.91
Henderson
45 156 29% 25 19 8 £299,963 £440,229 -5.59
Hobbs
26 200 13% 29 17 26 £230,104 £364,052 -25.22
McCain
70 321 22% 52 38 27 £258,539 £362,435 -85.22
Pipe
34 251 14% 27 30 32 £215,068 £295,991 -86.64
 
Nicholls closing in on a £1m of prizemoney before Christmas
WINS RUNS % 2NDS 3RDS 4THS WIN PRIZE TOTAL PRIZE £1 STAKE
56 223 25% 46 25 27 £655,935 £889,609 -40.83
WINS RUNS % 2NDS 3RDS 4THS WIN PRIZE TOTAL PRIZE £1 STAKE
2012-13 47 175 27% 30 20 8 £405,321 £560,287 -15.09

Even after winning Hennessy with Bobs Worth Henderson only clawed back around £20k - still £329,322 behind
 
Difference in first and second prize money in Tingle Creek £43k...going to be very hard for Henderson to claw back that lead before King George.
 
Henderson now £702,701 Nicholls £955,570 ...henderson closed gap by over £70k this week.
 
NOTHING annoys me more in racing than the habit of comparing the Flat and the Jumps. Ranking one code ahead of the other which, similarly and inevitably, also leads to denigrating one or the other.

Not so long ago, the racing media became obsessed with championing the cause of the National Hunt game, at the expense of the Flat.

Award-winning journalist Lee Mottershead, announced on TV, without any reference to reality, that “everyone knows Flat racing is in crisis”. Fellow ‘Racing Post’ hack Alastair Down rarely wasted a moment in his celebrated columns to promote his apparent disdain for racing on the level. And the ‘Post’ itself ran an infamous poll, asking readers to vote for their favourite code.

The Flat finished second -- hardly surprising given that National Hunt racing’s drawbacks rarely receive a public airing. Drawbacks that include its failure to emerge from the dark ages to embrace 48-hour declarations, its infuriating habit of omitting fences because of low sun or cosmetic damage and the unedifying sight of exhausted horses slogging it out in the mud at the end of marathon chases.

Conveniently omitted from the ‘Racing Post’ poll was a third voting option, which I’m sure most racegoers and punters would have plumped for -- namely savouring BOTH codes with equal enthusiasm.

That’s the camp I belong to. So after another vintage season of Flat racing, spearheaded again by the mighty FRANKEL, what a pleasure it has been to revel in such a spectacular start to the Jumps campaign over the past month.

The action has been stirring stuff. It started with one of the best Paddy Power Gold Cups of all time, won by AL FEROF. It continued with SILVINIACO CONTI’S classy taming of LONG RUN in the Betfair Chase. And it scaled new heights with last weekend’s rousing Hennessy Gold Cup at Newbury, which announced BOBS WORTH as a genuine contender for the Cheltenham Gold Cup next March.

Other horses, both here and in Ireland, already top class or aspiring to greatness, are queueing up to show their hands too. Indeed, touching wood, I can’t remember a season where so many of Jumps racing’s potential stars are fit and healthy, and so few have succumbed to injury.

But never mind the horses, what of the real signatory thread through which the 2012/13 National Hunt season in the UK will be defined?

I refer to the trainers’ championship. The race for the title between Paul Nicholls and Nicky Henderson.

In years to come, I am sure racing history will write that we were fortunate enough to be part of the generation that basked in the skills of two of the finest trainers the sport has known. Stir the Irish genius that is Willie Mullins into the mix and it is clear we are truly blessed with an era of unparalleled talent.

The three aforementioned big races were all won by either Nicholls or Henderson. There won’t be a Saturday go by between now and the Cheltenham and Aintree Festivals without more of the same. And come Cheltenham itself, racegoers hardly need look any further than the triumvirate of Nicholls, Henderson and Mullins. It’s dot-to-dot punting.

The dominance of Nicholls and Henderson in the big races and the major meetings in the UK is such that trainers considered rivals just a few years ago -- the likes of Philip Hobbs, Alan King, David Pipe and Jonjo O’Neill -- are no longer operating on the same planet.

Of course, the yards of Hobbs, King, Pipe, Jonjo et al still house many fine horses. But only the emergence of Donald McCain can be considered a serious challenge to Nicholls and Henderson. King even admitted in his very readable ‘Racing Post Weekender’ column a few weeks ago that he has written off trying to compete with the big two.

So which of those two will end up king? For their dominance has also spawned a rivalry that Racing For Change’s marketing moguls would be well advised to make the most of through the winter months.

It is a rivalry that is already starting to manifest itself. Witness, for example, Newbury, where Bobs Worth might have taken the prize, but not far behind in second was the revitalised TIDAL BAY, whose rehabilitation is the perfect advertisement for the skills of Nicholls. But it’s a rivalry that looks sure to be most prevalent via a series of duels, starting at Sandown this coming weekend, between the country’s top 2m chasers, SPRINTER SACRE, saddled by Henderson, and SANCTUAIRE, saddled by Nicholls.

In the trainers’ duel, the 50-year-old Nicholls is the incumbent. Champion for the past seven seasons, after finishing runner-up to Martin Pipe for the same number of years.

My admiration for the former jockey knows no bounds. Just like his own drive and professionalism. Anyone still not a member of the Nicholls fan club should catch up with his autobiography, ‘Lucky Break’. A highly recommended read that, above all, reveals what makes him tick.

His competitive streak yields a constant desire to improve. For 11 consecutive seasons now, Nicholls has saddled at least 115 winners, including more than 150 four times. Not since 2002 has he failed to top £2 million in prize money. Silviniaco Conti’s triumph at Haydock last month was the master of Ditcheat’s 90th Grade One success.

Armed with such statistics, it is almost inconceivable that Nicholls is NOT favourite for this season’s trainers’ title. But while his stable stars, KAUTO STAR, DENMAN and MASTER MINDED, have moved on, the unique, occasionally eccentric, ability of the brilliant Henderson is enjoying a renaissance.

Ability that first surfaced back in the 1980s when, only in his mid-30s, he landed two successive trainers’ championships on the back of his handling of triple Champion Hurdle winner, SEE YOU THEN.

Incredibly, Henderson has not been crowned champion trainer since. Last season, the prize would have been his until, amid drama so criminally underplayed by the racing media, that man Nicholls snatched it from him at the death when NEPTUNE COLLONGES got up in the closing strides to win the Grand National.

However, the 62-year-old Henderson still trained many more winners than Nicholls (167 to 138). And while his tally of prize money was not enough for the title, it was still the highest of his career.

Now the Lambourn man boasts a battalion of horses the envy of his profession in his bid to topple Nicholls. SPRINTER SACRE, SIMONSIG, BOBS WORTH, FINIAN’S RAINBOW, RIVERSIDE THEATRE, OSCAR WHISKY, GRANDOUET, to name but a few.

Add the roll-call of names to Henderson’s uncanny capacity for getting his charges spot-on for the races that matter and it’s little wonder we have a trainer who has saddled more Cheltenham Festival winners than anyone alive. A total of 46, including a record-breaking seven last March alone.

See what I mean about this title race? Two giants of the game going to head to head in a battle royal sure to get racing’s heart beating like a drum -- whether that heart is in Cheltenham or Royal Ascot.

TURFBLOG IS SUPPLIED BY SCOOP RACING (RICHARD SILVERWOOD).
 
Nicholls WINS RUNS % 2NDS 3RDS 4THS WIN PRIZE TOTAL PRIZE £1 STAKE
2012-13 64 257 25% 56 32 29 £840,585 £1,154,233 -36.49
Henderson

WINS RUNS % 2NDS 3RDS 4THS WIN PRIZE TOTAL PRIZE £1 STAKE
2012-13 56 207 27% 40 23 9 £565,614 £768,242 -13.29


Big gap again
 
Nicholls


WINS RUNS % 2NDS 3RDS 4THS WIN PRIZE TOTAL PRIZE £1 STAKE
2012-13 66 261 25% 56 32 30 £869,122 £1,186,745 -36.24

He do

WINS RUNS % 2NDS 3RDS 4THS WIN PRIZE TOTAL PRIZE £1 STAKE
2012-13 58 221 26% 43 25 10 £591,545 £837,995 -22.32

Back to about £ 350k
 
Nicholls still in front
WINS RUNS % 2NDS 3RDS 4THS WIN PRIZE TOTAL PRIZE £1 STAKE
2012-13 67 270 25% 57 33 31 £874,776 £1,206,306 -43.67

Big day for Henderson yesterday

WINS RUNS % 2NDS 3RDS 4THS WIN PRIZE TOTAL PRIZE £1 STAKE
2012-13 63 230 27% 44 25 11 £773,326 £1,034,275 -17.11

about £170k between them now.
 
Nicholls usually gives them jabs about now ...won't he backing his until Feb
 
Nicholls
WINS RUNS % 2NDS 3RDS 4THS WIN PRIZE TOTAL PRIZE £1 STAKE
2012-13 73 297 25% 64 35 32 £925,095 £1,292,786 -50.64
Henderson
WINS RUNS % 2NDS 3RDS 4THS WIN PRIZE TOTAL PRIZE £1 STAKE
2012-13 66 249 27% 46 28 14 £801,171 £1,079,799 -26.19

Nicholls picked up a bit more in a quiet week for both
 
Nicholls
WINS RUNS % 2NDS 3RDS 4THS WIN PRIZE TOTAL PRIZE £1 STAKE
2012-13 76 303 25% 65 35 32 £943,940 £1,313,982 -49.31

Hendo
WINS RUNS % 2NDS 3RDS 4THS WIN PRIZE TOTAL PRIZE £1 STAKE
2012-13 72 264 27% 47 31 16 £852,213 £1,135,748 -26.98

£180k in it now
 
Nicholls
WINS RUNS % 2NDS 3RDS 4THS WIN PRIZE TOTAL PRIZE £1 STAKE
2012-13 78 320 24% 70 35 35 £951,283 £1,338,701 -56.06
Henderson
WINS RUNS % 2NDS 3RDS 4THS WIN PRIZE TOTAL PRIZE £1 STAKE
2012-13 75 281 27% 48 35 17 £912,294 £1,217,650 -35.28

£121k ..smallest gap since October
 
Nicholls

WINS RUNS % 2NDS 3RDS 4THS WIN PRIZE TOTAL PRIZE £1 STAKE
2012-13 79 334 24% 75 36 38 £955,081 £1,353,215 -60.06

Henderson

WINS RUNS % 2NDS 3RDS 4THS WIN PRIZE TOTAL PRIZE £1 STAKE
2012-13 77 292 26% 49 37 18 £938,522 £1,247,031 -43.05

£106k now ...quiet week for both of them.

Can see Nicholls staying in front until Cheltenham now. Henderson overhauling him there then Nicholls winning the National. Dega Vu:eek:
 
Nicholls

WINS RUNS % 2NDS 3RDS 4THS WIN PRIZE TOTAL PRIZE £1 STAKE
2012-13 88 364 24% 79 40 41 £1,032,295 £1,457,943 -65.16

WINS RUNS % 2NDS 3RDS 4THS WIN PRIZE TOTAL PRIZE £1 STAKE
2012-13 88 324 27% 54 37 19 £1,092,827 £1,428,889 -26.94


Less than £30k now... Are we about to flip flop
 
Good work statto. I will take our numbers and throw up together a monthly tracking graph during the week.
 
Statto said:
Nicholls

WINS RUNS % 2NDS 3RDS 4THS WIN PRIZE TOTAL PRIZE £1 STAKE
2012-13 88 364 24% 79 40 41 £1,032,295 £1,457,943 -65.16

WINS RUNS % 2NDS 3RDS 4THS WIN PRIZE TOTAL PRIZE £1 STAKE
2012-13 88 324 27% 54 37 19 £1,092,827 £1,428,889 -26.94


Less than £30k now... Are we about to flip flop
Click to expand...
Nope good day for Nicholls rocky creek zarkandar far west all win
 
I think the Tidal Bay injury could have a huge impact this time round. If Nicholls wins the National he could have held on. Still tight though.
 
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