Paul Nicholls has been champion trainer in Britain on 14 occasions and knows all about landing the biggest races in the calendar, and the Ditcheat supremo has a particularly strong Christmas track record, including six wins in the Challow Novices’ Hurdle at Newbury – the final Grade 1 of the calendar year in Britain.
The Challow Hurdle: Paul Nicholls’ 6 of the Best at Newbury
Here’s a look back at Nicholls’ six of the best in the Newbury contest.
Challow Hurdle Winners: Cornish Rebel (2003)
Cornish Rebel won his bumper at Newbury in February 2003 in the hands of Ruby Walsh and would return that December, already with a debut hurdles win at Chepstow behind him, to bag this prestigious Grade 1 race under the Irishman.
They went off as joint-favourites along with Distant Prospect, but Andrew Balding’s charge was last on the day and Cornish Rebel was produced by Walsh to overhaul Big Moment late on. He would win again as a novice over fences at Newbury and finished third in the Hennessy Gold Cup in 2005 behind Trabolgan.
Challow Hurdle Winners: Denman (2006)
Nicholls’ second Challow winner and the one against which all others are compared. Denman actually won this race at Cheltenham on New Year’s Day in 2006, one of four wins that season, though Nicanor denied at The Festival in March in the Royal & SunAlliance Novices’ Hurdle.
Even though his Challow win came in the Cotswolds, Denman would develop a real love affair with Newbury, twice winning the Hennessy Gold Cup among his five chasing successes there. The Tank famously won the Gold Cup in 2008, defeating stablemate Kauto Star, while he was second in three more renewals of that race.
Challow Hurdle Winners: Bravemansgame (2020)
There was a big gap to Nicholls’ next Challow winner, but the popular trainer wasn’t shy in making comparison between Bravemansgame and Denman when the former came to this race in 2020. His charge delivered as joint favourite in the Newbury contest, beating Star Gate by ten lengths before honourable placed runs at Cheltenham and Aintree in the spring of 2021.
Bravemansgame won here over fences as a novice in 2022 and to date remains unbeaten at this track (3-3). He won the King George at Kempton in December 2022, his biggest win to date, and was second in the Gold Cup that same season, but he has struggled in elite company since.
Challow Hurdle Winners: Stage Star (2021)
That win for Bravemansgame was to be the first of four in a row for Nicholls and Harry Cobden in the Challow, with Stage Star taking the prize in 2021, as he denied Dan Skelton’s mare West Balboa in good style.
Stage Star came up short at the spring festivals in 2022, but has gone on to become a quality chaser, winning the Grade 1 Turners’ Novices’ Chase at the Cheltenham Festival in 2023 and returning to land the Gold Cup there the following November.
Challow Hurdle Winners: Hermes Allen (2022)
Very few Challow winners have managed to win the race in quite the style that Hermes Allen managed in 2022, as he made it an unbeaten 3-3 over hurdles at the time. Run on testing ground, Cobden’s partner was on the pace early before dropping in, but he took up the running three out and cantered home under minimal urging from the saddle for a really polished win.
Like a few of the Nicholls’ Challow scorers, he had the makings of a chaser and he came up shy in Grade 1 novices’ over timber at Cheltenham and Aintree. He won the Grade 2 John Francome Novices’ Chase back at Newbury in December 2023 and was an honourable second as Il Est Francais routed the field in the Kauto Star Novices’ Chase at Kempton on Boxing Day last year. Sadly, he suffered a fatal fall on his next start in the Scilly Isles Novices’ Chase at Sandown.
Challow Hurdle Winners: Captain Teague (2023)
Captain Teague completed the four-timer for Nicholls and Cobden last December beating Lookaway into second spot as the rider went on to become champion jockey for the first time. He was disappointing in the Albert Bartlett over three miles at Cheltenham in March and finished fourth in the John Francome Novices’ Chase back at Newbury last month on his chasing bow.
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