Early morning gallops
Dawn of another non-stop day: Paul Nicholls' horses head out
6.10am The alarm shatters the silence at Highbridge Farm but, more likely than not, Paul Nicholls will be awake. He is not a good sleeper. Five or six hours a night - aided by the odd cat-nap during the day - will suffice. With around 140 horses to worry about, switching off is not easy.
A fruit smoothie for breakfast before the first important reference of the day, the BBC weather forecast at 6.20am. Trainers, like farmers, are obsessed with the weather. It affects running plans and training schedules.
It's mixed news. No ice to disrupt the morning work but snow forecast for the weekend. A few minutes to check the racing calendar and entries before setting off to his main stable about a mile away in the village of Ditcheat.
Paul Nicholls at his yard in Ditcheat
Organiser: Nicholls ensuring everyone knows their place on the gallops
7am It's still dark but the entrance to the yard is illuminated by light from the office windows. The heads of Kauto Star, Denman and Big Buck's are peering out of their boxes into the gloom.
Head lad Clifford Baker has been here since 5.55am, checking on every horse. Which have not eaten up to suggest they are off colour?
Assistant Dan Skelton, son of international showjumper, Nick, lives on site. He has to react first in the event of any emergencies during the night.
They pore over the morning papers in the stable kitchen. Skelton has already highlighted every mention of a Nicholls horse in the Racing Post with a blue marker.
Over a coffee, the morning routine is organised, the schooling and riding plans at the top of the list. Travelling head girl Donna Blake arrives. She is taking the day's two runners to Newbury. She checks times and the equipment she'll need. Fistral Beach is wearing a noseband.
The Highclere Thoroughbred syndicate are visiting the yard that morning - Dan and pupil-assistant Harry Fry are detailed to look after them.
Paul Nicholls sorting the horses for the early morning gallops
Action man: A typical morning involves Nicholls planning the work schedule
7.10am The work schedule is prepared on the colour-coded card rack on the wall. The colour denotes where the horses are stabled - red and blue the main top yard, green and yellow the bottom Highbridge yard, which houses 40 younger horses. Skelton has special responsibility for the bottom yard, as it is called.
The pack is shuffled as the cards are split into three columns - the three lots of the morning with a row for each rider. Those on the easy list and recent runners are excused a trip to the gallops and spend time on the mechanical walker.
Nicholls said: 'Clifford always says this is the most important job of the day, getting the right riders on the right horses. Some days, when you have fewer riders, there is a lot of juggling around, but we never have more than three lots.'
Nicholls relies on the feedback of his more experienced staff. The best is worth his or her weight in gold, intuitively knowing when a horse is not right. Baker always partners Kauto Star and Blake rides Denman.
All the plans are then transferred to a printed sheet to be distributed to the 40 staff.
Paul Nicholls at breakfast
Always on the go: Nicholls making early morning calls at breakfast
7.35am Up to the office, another glance at the weather forecast on the BBC website. Exeter should be OK for tomorrow but stable jockey Ruby Walsh is in Ireland. Four runners need riders. There is a first check to jockeys' agent Dave Roberts. Tony McCoy may be available.
Another glance at the entries. Nothing running at Bangor on Tuesday, so none this morning. PA Sara West has to input every change in the handicap rating of the yard's horses and, using the Easy Entry computer programme, Nicholls can see which of his horses is eligible for each race. With 41 novice hurdlers alone, plus 10 juveniles, the time saving is massive.
8am The tranquillity of Ditcheat village is shattered. It is Piccadilly Circus for horses, which just keep on coming around the corner.
Nicholls shouts out individual orders agreed with Baker and Skelton earlier. It is coded jargon, a foreign language to an outsider. 'Two, lead out lane; do two; do two canters up the hill; roll on down and roll on back.' All meet with nods of understanding.
Kotkimix, 'a bit of a fruitcake at the moment but we'll settle him down', goes out on his own, as does Tingle Creek Chase winner Twist Magic.
'If he is with the rest of the string, he just plants himself at the start of the gallop and won't move. They are all individuals. It has taken us three years to work out how to train Twist Magic,' Nicholls says.
Early morning gallops
Meticulous planner: The trainer chats with riders at early morning gallops
8.05am Into the Range Rover and the quarter-mile journey to the five-furlong gallop and fast work, led by Kauto Star. Nicholls's father Brian has already harrowed the gallop as the temperature hovers around freezing.
The first workers arrive , muscles warmed up, and canter to the end of the gallop before swinging round and sprinting back with Kauto Star and Big Buck's the leading pair. Pepe Simo and new French recruit Sang Bleu, ridden by Nicholls's partner Georgie Browne and already christened the 'flying machine', follow. He'll be running at Chepstow on December 28.
Kauto Star pleases Baker. 'I couldn't be more chuffed with him. I'm convinced his win in the Gold Cup last season was his best ever run and he hasn't lost any of his speed or enthusiasm,' says the trainer.
The mobile rings - it's Roberts, McCoy is available. Brian runs the harrow over the gallop again before the next set of workers arrive.
8.55am Phone call to owner Terry Warner - McCoy is available to ride Pasco at Exeter if he wants him. He does. McCoy is booked for two of the runners, while Christian Williams will partner the other pair. Confirmed with Roberts by 9.15am, as Nicholls fields another call from a different agent. Plans discussed for second lot at 10am and third at 11.15am, but Baker and Skelton must supervise that. Nicholls is off to Newbury with two runners.
Kauto Star (left) at early morning gallops
Champion and wonder horse: Kauto Star (left) at early morning gallops
10.10am Leave Ditcheat for the 80-minute journey to Newbury. Nicholls always travels by road, except for the busy four-day Cheltenham Festival in March when the indulgence of a helicopter more than pays for itself in time saved with the half-hour flight.
There are calls from Skelton about how schooling has gone and the Highclere syndicate visit. Arriving at Newbury at 11.30, it starts to snow.
12.05pm Collect the saddle from Ruby Walsh in the weighing room and head to the saddling boxes. Advisor runs in the 12.20 juvenile hurdle, the stable's first runner for the Royal Ascot Racing Club.
Hopeful owners crowd round in the paddock before Nicholls heads to his regular watching spot in front on the stands. 'You can't miss it. There is a big hole where I was jumping up and down when Denman won the Hennessy,' he jokes.
Advisor has drifted to 7-1 but a great jump at the last is accompanied by a 'Come on, Ruby,' and a punch of the Nicholls fist as the pair pull clear.
Paul Nicholls at Newbury
Action station: Nicholls watches from the sidelines at Newbury
12.35pm Fits in a TV interview with Racing UK after saddling Fistral Beach for the 12.50 handicap chase. 'I thought this horse was going to be a superstar,' Nicholls says. But one win and six seconds from eight runs has been super frustrating.
Fistral Beach finishes 27 lengths clear of War Footing but seven behind Far More Serious. It's another second. Walsh shakes his head in disbelief but it's a brief conversation. He sprints off to the weighing room. It's 1pm and he is booked on the 2.15pm flight back to Dublin from Southampton.
1.20pm Grabs a sandwich and coffee while watching the useful Oscar Whisky win the novice hurdle at 1.25pm for royal trainer Nicky Henderson. Nicholls could have been training the gelding with Cheltenham Festival potential. His yard were full when owner Dai Walters asked him to take Oscar Whisky.
A quick chat with Harry Herbert, manager of the Royal Ascot Racing Club, before heading back to the car park.
Paul Nicholls with Ruby Walsh
Post-mortem: A chat with rider Ruby Walsh after Fistral Beach's second place
2pm Back on the road. A call to Sara in the office to check on the post, before agent Anthony Bromley, the talent-spotting agent who found Kauto Star, rings with news of another horse in France. Nicholls reckons his office mobile phone bill for him and his lieutenants is close to £6,000 a year.
Calls daughter Megan, who is on a skiing holiday. All she wants to know about is how the horses have run. Nicholls admits his racing lifestyle is 24/7 but he thrives on the adrenaline rush.
'I was as tired as I've ever been in the two-week build-up to the Hennessy Gold Cup. All the issues surrounding Denman made that massive. But I love it.
'I don't play golf or go shooting. If I do something, I want to do it properly, 100 per cent.
'Georgie says the week after the season ends, that's when I'm at my most miserable and hardest to live with until I adjust.'
3.30pm Back in the office and attacking the post. Check train travel plans for tomorrow's trip to London for the launch of the King George Festival. Watch a re-run of the Newbury races before Baker returns from Highbridge and the pair head out for evening stables. All the staff have returned at 3.30pm. Wednesday is a busy day, all the horses have new shavings spread in their boxes.
Early morning gallops
Final stint: Nicholls admits he is usually fast asleep by around 8pm
4pm It is a hive of activity. Big Buck's, his muscular frame glistening, is being clipped for the run he ultimately never has as Ascot is abandoned, and the blacksmith is shoeing tomorrow's Exeter runners.
Nicholls and Baker visit every horse, in turn running their hands down the tendons of both forelegs. Any tell-tale sign of heat would suggest a problem.
Advisor is back in his box with cooling clay applied to his legs - a post-race treatment for all runners. Each horse gets a bucket of hay, more for those in hard training, but not too much for Denman, whose training schedule post-Hennessy is still light.
Champion chaser Master Minded, recuperating from a broken rib, is on the walker for his third hour of the day. In that time, he walks an estimated 15 miles.
All horses have been given a scoop of horsecubes - 15 per cent protein - in the morning, a second at 12.15pm and the last at the day at 5pm. In that last feed are their mineral and vitamin supplements and a couple of handfuls of alfalfa. Baker supervises the feeding.
5pm The final stint in the office before back home for supper at 6pm. No evening engagements tonight. 'I sometimes watch television while reading through the entry book from around 8pm but the problem is I'm usually asleep by five past.
'I do like Spooks and CSI Miami. I speak to Sir Alex Ferguson most days since he became an owner and I have become interested in football, so I'd also usually watch Match of the Day when it's repeated on Sunday morning.
'I sometimes go for a last walk around the horses at Highbridge between 9pm and 10pm.'
Source Daily Mail
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