Minella Study can ride the crest of a wave for Adam Nicol at Cheltenham

There are several aspects of Adam Nicol’s training operation that set him apart as he prepares to send Minella Study, his stable star, to the Cheltenham festival next week.

He prepares his horses on the magnificent expanse of Bamburgh beach on the Northumbrian coast, recently voted the third-best beach on the planet by Trip Advisor and with the 1,400-year-old Bamburgh Castle looming behind it. He has a 100% record at Cheltenham: one runner, one win, when Minella Study took a trial race in December. And while the overall total of nearly 200 elite athletes at his stable in Seahouses stands comparison with the likes of Willie Mullins and Nicky Henderson, all but a couple of dozen have feathers.

At 36, Nicol will be one of the youngest trainers with a festival runner next week, but he has been training racing pigeons since he was eight. “It’s a dying sport, pigeon racing, but in the north-east of England, it was massive, 20, 30, 40 years ago, with all the pitmen and that,” he said at his stable this week. “I’m the only lad in the village that does it now. It kept me out of trouble as a kid – what else would you do, hang around the streets or something?

“It’s exciting, and I do think it’s helped me with training the racehorses. It’s the same sort of logic and training routine. Animals are creatures of habit, you can’t just click your fingers and it takes time. You’ve got to get them fit and build that fitness up, and prep them through their feeding and so on before the race.”

Jennie Durrans and Minella Study (right) cool off alongside a stablemate in the water at Bamburgh beach. Photograph: Mark Pinder/The Guardian

Nicol started out in racing as a jump jockey, riding more than 100 winners over a dozen years including 13 on the popular mare Lady Buttons but since saddling his first runner as a trainer in December 2020 – an uncertain time for anyone to launch a fresh start – he has rapidly scaled fresh heights.

His third runner, Wise Eagle, a snip at £7,350, went down the road to Newcastle to win a Flat race in January 2021, and has since landed more than £200,000 for his owners on the Flat and over jumps, while also lining up for races including the Ascot Gold Cup and Ebor Handicap.

Now, Minella Study, unbeaten in three starts over hurdles, is about to set off at single-figure odds for the Triumph, the opening race on Gold Cup day and one of the Cheltenham festival’s most storied and prestigious events.

The ability to exercise his string on the beach is, Nicol feels, an essential part of his success, with both physical and mental benefits for his horses.

“Wise Eagle was a big flag-bearer for us, he’s let people know that what we’re doing works,” Nicol says. “Christian Williams trains down on the beach in Wales and he’s getting winners and we’re getting winners, and I do think it’s a massive bonus.

Trainer Adam Nichol and his horse Minella Study, who is fancied for the Triumph Hurdle at Cheltenham. Photograph: Mark Pinder/The Guardian

“Years ago, Bamburgh was known as the hidden secret of Northumberland but now, because of social media, it’s getting flooded with tourists. It’s why we try to go down early, before 10am, and when we were down this morning it was unreal.

“I think the horses don’t realise that they’re in training, doing that. Every day is different, there’s people in different areas, there’s seaweed and logs been washed up, and it just keeps them interested.

“The sand needs to be not too soft and not too firm, so it all depends on where the tide’s been, and they have to work. The hoofprints this morning have been four to six inches. Then after you can walk in the sea, which cools their legs and their tendons, and if they’ve got any cuts or knocks, the salt water is brilliant for taking inflammation away.

“There are trainers in Newmarket who pay a lot of money for salt-walkers, and we’ve got it free on the doorstep.”

Minella Study will head to the festival as the top-rated juvenile hurdler in Britain, although the opposition from Ireland’s powerhouse stables will be of a much higher calibre than he has faced so far.

Minella Study (left) put through his paces at Bamburgh beach. His trainer says the sand and sea are fantastic resources for his yard. Photograph: Mark Pinder/The Guardian

His previous experience of Cheltenham could be invaluable, however, and Nicol’s quiet confidence in his young hurdler is infectious. One of his pigeons recently made it back from Roye, 60 miles north of Paris, in 16 hours, and Minella Study could be on the brink of a similarly memorable achievement.

“The form’s strong,” Nicol says. “He’s been to the track and done it, his main fitness work is all done now and he’s the same weight he was when he won there in December. Now we’ve got to go there, keep our feet on the ground and hopefully get a bit of luck on the day.

“We haven’t booked anywhere Friday night, though. I thought I’d wing it a little bit. If he gets beat, we’ll not be hanging around too long, but if he won, I’m not really worried about where we’re staying. We can worry about that after we’ve had a few pints.”

Wreckless Eric can register a revival hit

Many of the season’s biggest stories will be written at Cheltenham next week, but Go Dante has a chance to earn at least a footnote in the history books in Saturday’s Imperial Cup at Sandown, when he will attempt to become the first horse to win the race three times.

Olly Murphy’s course specialist is three-from-three over Saturday’s track and trip, and will have been campaigned around a return to the Imperial Cup since his win – off the same mark of 132 – 12 months ago.

However, that is also true for last year’s runner-up, Wreckless Eric (2.27), who is 3lb lower in the weights this time around. He has shown little in three starts so far this season, but has been running in classy company and on ground and over trips that did not suit.

The return to Sandown over the minimum trip could well spark a revival, and the headlong pace that seems all but assured will suit his hold-up running style.

Sandown 1.50 Ben Pauling’s Four Springs was no match for the upwardly mobile Sinnatra last time but his opening mark is potentially generous and cheek-pieces may also draw out some improvement on his handicap debut.

Wolverhampton 2.05 With both of her career wins having come over this track and trip, Addarella looks overpriced at around 8-1 to make a winning start for her new trainer, Scott Dixon.

Wolverhampton 2.42 La Botte found trouble in running at a vital stage in the Britannia at Royal Ascot last time and can use this trial to set himself up for a tilt at the Lincoln.

Sandown 3.00 A Listed mares’ bumper with a closely-matched field on the limited form available, but Gavin Cromwell has made the effort to book Harry Cobden for the steadily-improving Lennon Grove and the hint may be worth taking.

Wolverhampton 3.15 Marco Botti’s Prince Of India lost all chance when badly hampered in an Ascot Group Three in October. He remains unexposed on the all-weather and also has winning form after a break over this track and trip.

Sandown 3.35 The unexposed Calimystic improved for the switch to chasing when successful at Newbury last time and should make more than enough progress to overcome a 4lb rise in the weights.