Saturday man Paul Nicholls hopes to keep run going with Irish Saint

http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2015/jan/26/saturday-man-paul-nicholls-irish-saint

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Irish Saint will lead Paul Nicholls’ team into action this weekend as the champion jumps trainer attempts to extend an unbroken run of success he has enjoyed this winter. Nicholls has had at least one winner every Saturday since the core jumps season began at the start of November, a sequence that has now extended to 13 weeks and given him a healthy lead in the latest title race.

“That’s what we want to hear,” the trainer said on Monday when told he had not had a blank Saturday since October, a detail of which he was unaware. “Everyone wants a Saturday horse and we’ve had a great run.”

Nicholls conceded he has been slightly surprised by how well this season has gone, after a big clear-out of horses last summer. This is also the second consecutive winter he has faced with a new stable jockey, Sam Twiston-Davies having taken over from Daryl Jacob.

“Then again we’ve got a great set-up here and we had a new gallop put in, which has helped a lot. We know what we’re at.”

The big race this Saturday is Sandown’s Scilly Isles Novice Chase, a Grade One which Nicholls won four times in a row to 2009 but not since. Irish Saint will represent the trainer this time and it appears he will not face a large number of rivals, as the race has been reopened due to lack of support.

“He was impressive last time at Ascot, first time over a trip that suited,” Nicholls said. “This has been the target since then. I think he’ll be even better when he goes three miles. He’ll get an entry in the JLT and the RSA [for the March Festival] but it’s not set in stone that he’ll go to Cheltenham.”

Nicholls expects to have quite a few other runners this weekend as his yard emerges from what is usually one of its quieter months of the winter. He named There’s No Panic, Ulck Du Lin and Silsol as others who could help to sustain his record of weekend success.

The trainer has managed to win a Graded race on 11 of the 13 Saturdays that made up his charmed run and the prize money gained thereby has given him a lead of almost £700,000 in the title race. He has won £1,729,667, close to double the amount racked up by Nicky Henderson, generally perceived as his main rival for the championship.

Henderson’s chasers have underperformed and he is only third in the table. Philip Hobbs, currently second, hopes to get one of his stable stars back on course next month.

“Fingal Bay runs, hopefully, on Sunday 8 February in a graduation chase at Exeter,” said Sara Hobbs, the trainer’s wife. “We’re very happy with him.”

The horse holds a Gold Cup entry but plans on that level of ambition are firmly on hold until his next start, following a significant bleed found in his trachea after he was pulled up in the Hennessy in November. He was given a month off after that.

Sire De Grugy came through an important test on the way to his comeback when he was schooled over fences for the first time since injuring a hip in November. The reigning champion two-mile chaser is due to run at Newbury a week on Saturday, his first outing since April.

“I’m delighted with him,” his trainer, Gary Moore, said through his Betway blog. “The weather has been a nightmare really but the thaw meant he could pop over 12 fences with Jamie [Moore] and did so with all his usual zest.”