Paul Nicholls has revealed he will have just four runners at the DragonBet Welsh Racing Festival at Chepstow, as he takes a more cautious approach to the start of the jump season.
Chepstow is traditionally one of the first major meetings of the campaign for the 14-time champion trainer, but a dry summer has disrupted his plans. Nicholls said he is being “patient” this year, with the firm ground and the absence of his chasers reducing his number of entries.
Weather and ground blamed for reduced team
Speaking as a Betfair ambassador, Nicholls explained: “We've only got four in this year. With the weather, we've not been that in much of a rush with them. Last year. The ground was very very firm. We got horses ready, and it didn't really work out. And of course, all the chasers are gone, so that's ruled all our chasers out.”
He added that the weather has played a significant role in shaping his plans for the meeting, which runs from Friday to Sunday.
Fasol and Stick To The Board set for Friday
Nicholls confirmed that Fasol will run in the handicap on Friday, while Stick To The Board holds an entry in the Grade Two Persian War Novices’ Hurdle on the opening day. However, the trainer indicated he is likely to run Stick To The Board in the Maiden Hurdle on Saturday instead.
“Fasol’s going to run in the handicap on Friday. Stick to the Board in the Persian War Friday, but I think we'll run in the Maiden Hurdle on Saturday because the Persian – although I think he'd run well – would be chucking him in the deep end for the first time, so we'll probably run him in the maiden Saturday,” he said.
Treasure Planet and Too Many Acres complete the team
Treasure Planet is entered in the four-year-olds only handicap hurdle, though Nicholls admitted he is unsure whether the horse has the class to win. He also plans to run a bumper horse called Too Many Acres on Sunday, describing the meeting as “a nice little starting point.”
Quebecois, who could have run at Chepstow, is instead set to go to Newton Abbot the following Saturday. Nicholls said: “So we've made sort of plans, but we're not going to be quite as busy as we normally are there.”
He also questioned whether Nicky Henderson has any entries at the meeting, adding: “I don't even know if Nikky (Henderson) even got any entries. Yeah. So the weather has played a big part in what's going on.”
Stick To The Board leads the team heading to Wales, with the five-year-old holding an entry for the Grade Two Persian War Novices’ Hurdle on the opening day and another in a maiden hurdle on Saturday. Nicholls was speaking at Betfair’s launch of the new horse racing jump season.
