Hot To Trot: Nicholls on Topof-his-game

Flat trainer: John Gosden

As the graph below demonstrates, runners from the John Gosden yard have been performing to a consistently high standard through the summer months, with Enable’s five-timer in Group 1 company and Cracksman’s Champion Stakes victory providing the undoubted highlights. Gosden shows no signs of slowing down, too, with Highgarden and Military Law among the two-year-olds to have won well for the trainer recently, while he also looks set to have plenty of runners between now and the official end to the British Flat season on turf at Doncaster next Saturday.

Gosden is likely to be particularly well represented at Chelmsford next Thursday, with 11 entries across the card at the time of writing. Seven of those are in the 1m novice stakes, with Glencadam Master and Rhode Island two of the more interesting sorts on breeding. The former is by Mastercraftsman and out of Hughie Morrison’s dual listed winner Coquet, while Rhode Island is a Galileo half-brother to Kingsgate Native. It will interesting to see who the chosen representative(s) from Gosden’s Clarehaven yard is, with that pair also holding entries in the 1m maiden at Nottingham on Wednesday. Meanwhile, Elsaakb holds a choice of engagements next week, and is one to look out for having shown improved form when fourth on his nursery debut at Newmarket last time. He is eligible for lesser events from a BHA mark of 67. Finally, Cashla Bay was disappointing when last of eight at Lingfield last time, but is clearly better than she was able to show there (off five months since), and will be of interest if lining up at Kempton on Tuesday.

Jumps trainer: Paul Nicholls

The 2017/18 jumps season is really getting going now and, with some of the campaign’s biggest prizes just around the corner, Paul Nicholls would appear better placed to compete in them than most. Indeed, Nicholls could hardly be in better form at present and will likely have particularly high hopes for Romain de Senam, who won at Chepstow and Stratford in the space of six days last month, and is currently among the market leaders for the BetVictor Gold Cup at Cheltenham in two weeks’ time.

Nicholls has plenty to keep him occupied in the meantime, however, including the potential reappearance of Politologue in Tuesday’s Haldon Gold Cup at Exeter. A winner of three of his first five starts over fences last season, he looked likely win a Grade 1 on his final start at Aintree in April before falling at the last, and should go well in a contest that could also feature stablemate San Benedeto, who was the chief beneficiary from Politologue’s last flight mishap on Merseyside. Topofthegame could also have Grade 1 aspirations come the spring, having shown useful form in three starts over hurdles last term. The five-year-old is every inch a chaser on looks and it would be a surprise if he did not rate much higher in that sphere, with Newbury on Friday a potential starting point. That card could also witness the next appearance of the exciting If You Say Run, though she is also engaged at Ludlow on the same day. Unbeaten in two starts at Chepstow, a bumper in April and a mares’ novice hurdle last month, she looks a fine prospect and is one to keep on the right side.

Under the radar: Graeme McPherson

Graeme McPherson enjoyed the best season of his training career to date in 2016/17, with a prize money haul of £194,604 – his previous best stood at £123,310 – and 28 winners. The trainer is already well on his way to surpassing that achievement this term, however, with eight wins on the board at this relatively early stage of proceedings, and the runners from his yard continuing to perform with impressive consistency. It is not impossible that McPherson could have reached double figures by this time next week, too, with Rio Bravo and Silva Samourai among those worth putting in your tracker ahead of engagements next week. The former produced a career-best effort when second at Worcester last time and may yet prove capable of better still, while Silva Samourai shaped with some encouragement when third on his stable debut at Huntingdon last month. That form is working out well (winner followed up under a penalty at Worcester) and Silva Samourai should strip fitter with that first outing for 10 months under his belt.