Horse Racing: Nicholls' Only Aim is to Win Races

Paul Nicholls woke up yesterday morning at the pinnacle of his profession for the first time, and while Martin Pipe's sudden retirement distracted much of the attention from his achievement, it also saw Nicholls installed as the odds-on favourite to retain the trainers' championship in 2007.

"We'd been in front since Tingle Creek day [in December] and then progressively drawn away, but anything was possible at Cheltenham and Aintree," Nicholls says.

"After Aintree it was fairly obvious we were safe, and it was nice not to have to be rushing around like we were last year, though I don't regret that at all, as we could hardly run up the white flag 12 months ago when we were so close, the horses were running well and the ground was safe.

"We started out here at Ditcheat with eight horses, so it's very satisfying for everyone who has helped. You don't do something like this without a good team.

"We've had a good spread of horses this year, which is what you need, and though we've had to do without Azertyuiop, the horses have all been generally healthy all the way through."

Nicholls is as short as 2-9 with Stan James to retain his title, though he insists that it is not his principal target for the new season.

"You might find that it's harder to defend it than it is to win it, but I never set out at the start of the season to win the championship, I just want to win as many races as possible.

"But I do think we'll be starting out in the autumn with as good a team as we've ever had. Horses like Noland and Denman were always going to make chasers, and we'd hope to have Azerytuiop back as well."