Adam Nicol is keen not to dwell on a narrow Cheltenham Festival loss with stable star Minella Study. Instead, the Scottish trainer is looking forward to a busy rest of 2026 with his Triumph Hurdle third.
Minella Study led over the final flight in the day four opener at Cheltenham. However, despite battling all the way up the Cheltenham Hill, 50/1 shot Apolon De Charnie won the race. That winner was the second in as many years making his debut for Willie Mullins.
While it would have been impossible for Nicol to account for a Mullins debutant, his charge did him proud. Only Maestro Conti, on the nod, beat him among those with previous racecourse experience in Britain and Ireland.
Already a Grade 2 winner over hurdles, there is still plenty more to come from Minella Study. It may well be that his future lies just as much away from jumps as over them too.
“Aintree on lovely ground would be right up his street” – Nicol
The immediate future is the first focus. With Cheltenham under his belt, this jumps season is far from over, with Aintree taking place next month. That track is one Nicol is keen to visit.
Speaking to the Press Association via Racing TV, Nicol said: “If we can keep him in one piece, he’ll be running in some very good races next season. If he comes out of this really well and nothing is set in stone yet, if he were to run again he will go to Aintree.
“It is a possibility, he would have a maximum of one more run and he would have to be pleasing me.
“I think the track would suit. He’s obviously very versatile and clearly handles Cheltenham, I’d hope we see an even better horse on a flat track.”
The Cheltenham Festival experience goes down as a distinctly positive one for Nicol
“Oh (we’re) mega proud of him,” he said. “You’ve just been beat by just over a length in the Triumph Hurdle, it’s the pinnacle. That was our Olympics.
“To get there was massive, but to go there with a live chance was even better and then he had to follow it up, which he did.
“I didn’t want to believe he could win it until he jumped the last clear, that’s when I actually thought ‘we might win this’. He’s still a baby and he’s very tall so he will strengthen up.
With the step up from four to five a notoriously difficult one for hurdlers, Nicol is keeping every option open. The good thing we’ve got is the option of having a bit of a Flat campaign because he’s very well handicapped.
“To try to look after him, we could be very selective with which jump races we go in as well as keeping him going on the flat.”