Paul Nicholls Becomes 10th Winning Most Trainer in Britain

Paul Nicholls Becomes 10th Winning Most Trainer in Britain

Kauto Star, Denman, and most recently Clan Des Obeaux have all provided memorable days for Paul Nicholls in the past, but perhaps a name you may not have heard of is Greaneteen, who will sit alongside the ones previously named as one of his most historic winners.

Why? Greaneteen's success at Exeter on New Year's Day brought the Ditcheat's overall tally of winners to 2,951, which puts his name amongst the elite by officially becoming the tenth top most winning trainer in Britain.

Nicholls rose to that tally after a tremendous Christmas, which saw him win a tenth King George with Clan Des Obeaux. He also had a top juvenile in Quel Destin collect first-place prize honours at Chepstow, along with two victories for classy mare Posh Trish in the space of four days.

Greaneteen - ridden by Bryony Frost, was Nicholls' second winner of the day at the Devon track, but Nicholls said he did not even realise he was close to breaking a record

(Credit: Racing Post) He said: "I wasn’t aware we were close to reaching the top ten, but I’m very proud and it just shows what an amazing team we’ve got.

"It’s brilliant for everyone involved and to reach an achievement like that is fantastic."

Nicholls, who has saddled more than 100 winners in each of the last 17 seasons, first enjoyed Grade One success with See More Indians victory in the Feltham back in 1993. Despite the achievement, he was the first to stress the importance of his team back at his Somerset base.

(Credit: Racing Post) He said: "We just try and do the right thing and run our horses in the right races. You have to build up a good team around you of owners, staff and horses, and try not to make too many mistakes.

"You never stop learning in this game and I love it. I love the horses and the people, and you can’t explain how good it is when we have days like last week when we won the King George VI Chase with Clan Des Obeaux. We put all the hard work in for days like that.

"Me and Clifford Baker, my head lad, have made a few changes for this season and thankfully they have helped to produce the right results."

Nicholls can also thank the likes of Harry Cobden and Bryony Frost in the past twelve months, but also big names such as Sam Twiston-Davies and Ruby Walsh who has ridden plenty for him in the past.

Mark Johnston tops the overall list after overtaking Richard Hannon senior, when Poet's Society won at York's Ebor meeting back in August. Martin Pipe sits in third on 4,183, whilst fellow jumps rival and current Champion Jumps Trainer is only 50 ahead of Nicholls, and currently rests in eighth place.