Can Any Other Trainer Stop Paul Nicholls' Domination?

The Ryanair Chase is run on day three of the Cheltenham Festival and is one of the new Grade One races at has been an unqualified success since first being run at the Festival in 2005. It is a tough chase ran over a distance of 2 miles and 5 furlongs and has been created for those top quality chasers, who are just not quite fast enough for the two miles in the Queen Mother Champion Chase and do not quite get the 3 mile trip of the Cheltenham Gold Cup. The race has effectively become the Champion 2½ mile chase.

The race is open to five year olds and above and carries a total prize fund of over £200,000 and was won in 2008 by the David Pipe trained Our Vic, who after winning this took on Kauto Star at Aintree three weeks later and defeated him there. Our Vic, who was also second in the race in 2007 is a likely runner again this year, but he will be up against even more quality in the form of the Paul Nicholls trained, Noland and possibly Paddy Power Gold Cup winner, Imperial Commander. Also in the betting for the 2009 renewal of the race are the 2008 Queen Mother Champion Chase runner up, Voy Por Ustedes and 2008 Arkle winner, Tidal Bay.

Noland is currently rated number one chaser in the UK and Ireland and has been in great form this season and his recent victory over War Of Attrition in the John Durkan Memorial Chase at Punchestown underlined why he is the current and most likely favourite for the Ryanair Chase at Cheltenham in March and looks the one to beat. Paul Nicholls now has the favourites for all the top chases at the Festival. In addition to Noland, he has Denman in the Gold Cup, Tatenen in the Arkle and Master Minded in the Queen Mother and he now must be the envy of every other trainers in the country and the question remains can any of the others stop his domination of the jumps scene?

Nicholls has already trained the winner of the Ryanair Chase on two of the four times it has been run. He trained Taranis in 2007 and Thisthatantother in its first season in 2005. Interestingly, each of the four winners of the race to date were aged ten, with the exception of Taranis who was a youngster when he won aged just six.

It is safe to assume that Paul Nicholls is a worthy contender for the top trainer award at the Cheltenham Festival and it would take a brave person to oppose any of his fancied runners for the mentioned races. And while he doesn't have any leading contenders for the Champion Hurdle or World Hurdle, he cannot be discounted for becoming the first trainer ever to train the winner of the four feature Championship races at the Festival.