Paul Nicholls might not be the dominant force of old, but the Ditcheat maestro’s brilliance cannot be overstated, and he is within touching distance of the great Martin Pipe’s record for jumps winners.
Nicholls has given racing fans an enormous number of talented jumping stars since the 1990s. I wasn’t born then, and I didn’t develop an affinity for the game until my late teens, so I’d be lying if I flooded this list with his earlier horses. Honourable mentions go to the likes of Kauto Star and Denman. That said, every young racing fan has taken a trip down memory lane and grown attached to stars they weren’t quite around to see at the time.
10. Vicente
I’ve always had a strong affinity with staying chasers in the colours of the late, great Trevor Hemmings, and Vicente is right up there.
He won only five of his 21 starts over fences, but his last two wins came in the Scottish Grand National. The second was particularly impressive, as he’d been minded for the race all season before Sam Twiston-Davies gave him a sensational ride to fend off Cogry by a neck in the dying strides.
He couldn’t complete the hat-trick the following year, but he still finished fifth despite losing both of his hind shoes.
9. Sans Bruit
Sans Bruit has always fascinated me, as we rarely see horses already established at Graded level in France come over and succeed in Britain. I remember tipping him for the Red Rum Handicap at Aintree in 2024, and he produced a sparkling front-running performance under Bryony Frost to land the odds.
Halfway through the following season, it was clear that Aintree was once more his Gold Cup. Despite being completely out of sorts that season, he again made all off the same mark, once more landing the odds for GG readers.
It was one of the most satisfying wins we’ve had, as it had been so blindingly obvious all campaign, and seeing it come to fruition was a joy. Sadly, he couldn’t land the hat-trick this season.
8. Topofthegame
Horses you know would have been unbelievable without their issues always pull on the heartstrings – Master Tommytucker to a degree – and that was the case with Topofthegame.
He wasn’t particularly special as a novice hurdler, but he took the EBF Final at Sandown before being agonisingly beaten a neck in the 2018 Coral Cup, which still stings to this day.
Chasing was always going to be his game, but he lost 20 lengths when planting himself at the start as favourite on his chase debut. He made remarkable progress to jump the third-last upsides the leaders, but didn’t quite have the energy to fend off Defi Du Seuil.
He was better when second in the Kauto Star, and he confirmed that form when beating Santini in the RSA Chase at Cheltenham. He was no match for Lostintranslation at Aintree, and sadly never recovered from injury after that.
7. Master Tommytucker
Like Clan Des Obeaux, Master Tommytucker was sent chasing after just two starts over hurdles, though he foreshadowed what was to come by falling late on.
He wasn’t seen again for 408 days, but he overcame the absence to win at Kempton before falling again next time out. Another fall came 58 days later, and Nicholls put him away for the season once more.
He was an enthusiastic jumper and you never quite knew what to expect from him. He returned in excellent form a year later, before jumping frailties let him down in the December Gold Cup. Regardless, he picked up Grade 2 honours at Kempton in the Silviniaco Conti Chase.
That race always sticks with me. Two of his last three jumps were foot-perfect, but while he was 10 lengths clear on the bridle going to the last, he ran straight through it.
That would be his last success, and sadly his tendency to throw in a dire jump led to the fatal injury he suffered as an 11-year-old in the 2022 Fleur De Lys Chase.
6. Bravemansgame
Having largely missed the bulk of Paul Nicholls’ star three-mile chasers, it was a joy to watch Bravemansgame roll back the years for Ditcheat.
He landed the Challow in his novice hurdling season, but couldn’t quite match the Irish in the Ballymore. He was remarkable as a novice chaser, winning four on the spin, including the Kauto Star Novices’ Chase and a Newbury handicap off 159 in which he gave 16lb to the field.
It was a shame to see him blow out in the Mildmay, but he bounced back to take the Charlie Hall, before becoming one of the most dominant King George winners in recent years in a fascinating match with L’Homme Presse.
He’d have been a deserving Gold Cup winner had Galopin Des Champs not been around, but as he hasn’t won since that King George, it’s fair to say the Gold Cup perhaps left its mark.
5. Silviniaco Conti
It’s a family tradition to go round to my grandma’s on Boxing Day to watch the day’s sport, and the King George always takes centre stage.
The 2013 King George is one of my earliest memories of that race, and what a race it was. The quality was stacked, with Cue Card, Al Ferof, Long Run and Dynaste all in the field, and we can only dream of seeing a field like it again.
Silviniaco Conti won the race again a year later, and continued to run gallantly, in victory and defeat, in a thrilling era of three-mile chasers.
4. Politologue
There’s scarcely a better sight in racing than a bold-jumping grey. Politologue’s chase debut sticks strongly in my memory: his coat was much darker then, and he jumped fluently to beat my all-time favourite grey, Vintage Clouds.
That was the first of 10 chase victories for Politologue, who a season later beat the 169-rated Fox Norton in the Tingle Creek. His battles with the likes of Min and Altior always made for an exciting contest, and his performance in the 2020 Champion Chase lives long in the memory.
3. Yala Enki
Yala Enki is a horse I feel never received enough plaudits. He was never quite classy enough to step up successfully into Grade 1 company, but he was a proper old-fashioned, gruelling staying chaser in some top handicaps.
His first notable success came for Venetia Williams in the 2016 Tommy Whittle, before he landed a feature handicap at Kelso under top weight later that season.
Throughout his career he contested most of the big staying handicaps, winning the 2018 Grand National Trial for Venetia Williams, before landing the 2020, 2021 and 2022 Portman Cup for Nicholls.
He belatedly broke his Cheltenham duck with a gritty front-running performance under Bryony Frost in the Jewson Handicap in 2021, a year after finishing a short-head second in the race to another gallant stayer, Ramses De Teillee.
2. Frodon
Frodon is undoubtedly one of my favourite Paul Nicholls horses, as he came on to the scene around the time I was becoming infatuated with the sport. He won 19 of his 52 races, and what he lacked in size he more than made up for in heart.
Frodon was a three-time Grade 1 winner, taking the 2019 Ryanair, the 2020 King George and the 2021 Champion Chase at Down Royal, but his most remarkable performance came in handicap company at Cheltenham, when he carried top weight to beat Shantou Flyer by 17 lengths on heavy ground.
He won six races at Cheltenham, five of them among his top six lifetime RPRs, proving what a tremendous force he was around Prestbury Park when expertly guided by Bryony Frost.
1. Clan Des Obeaux
I love tailor-made chasers who waste very little time over obstacles, and Clan Des Obeaux was certainly one of those.
Nicholls sent him chasing as a four-year-old, and on his second start he fended off two seven-year-olds to win the Berkshire Novices’ Chase at Newbury. Clan Des Obeaux rose steadily through the ranks after that, placing in the Grade 1 Bowl Chase in 2018.
Later that year, he beat a star-studded field to win the King George, his first Grade 1. Four more top-level victories followed, including a 21-length win in the 2019 King George and reversing Gold Cup form with Al Boum Photo in the Punchestown Gold Cup.