Nicol to continue Study’s education at Cheltenham

Adam Nicol expects to have a clearer idea of whether he has a genuine Cheltenham Festival contender on his hands after Minella Study travels to Prestbury Park for the JCB Triumph Trial Juvenile Hurdle on Saturday.

The three-year-old has quickly become Adam Nicol’s stable star, despite only two starts since switching to Seahouses from Irish trainer John Nallen’s yard.

Starting on the Flat, he was beaten a neck at Musselburgh before overcoming odds-on favourite Ammes to take Listed honours in the Wensleydale Juvenile Hurdle at Wetherby, his second win from two starts over obstacles having also struck gold at Tipperary in July.

A litmus test at Cheltenham now awaits Minella Study and Nicol is excited by the challenge, saying: “He seems good, you always hope you’ve done everything right and that they are well. I’m really happy with him.

“I could have run him at Aintree last week, but the owners were in Australia at the cricket, so they are looking forward to it. I gave them a few options and they wanted a go at Cheltenham. It’s nice to have that type of horse to have a go with.

“I honestly didn’t go to Wetherby thinking we’d win, I was trying to be realistic. The way the pundits and papers were talking, the James Owen horse (Ammes) couldn’t get beat! I thought if we finished in the first three I’d be over the moon and he ran a blinder.”

While Nicol acknowledges Minella Study will need to raise his game to maintain his unbeaten jumping record in the Cotswolds, the former jockey feels there is plenty of scope for improvement.

“He’s obviously got a good cruising speed and I think the New course around Cheltenham will suit him,” Nicol continued.

“I drove home from Musselburgh and couldn’t believe he got beat, but in hindsight it was a sharp track, he’s a three-year-old and it was his first start coming from Ireland.

“He’s quite a big horse and he’s still quite weak, he’ll certainly be a better four-year-old.

“We are just taking it one race at a time, by all means we aren’t going down there thinking we are going to win – that would be great, that’s what we are trying to achieve – but if he won or ran a stormer, you’d have to think about Cheltenham Festival.

“Going to this race is a bit of tester to see if he could handle the travel down there, the overnight stay and handle the track; and if all the boxes are ticked and you run a stormer, it’s telling you to have a go at the Festival.

“Saturday is going to tell us a lot. He could go there and fall out of the back of the telly and then you have to sort of be realistic and have a sensible plan.

“These are the type of horses you want as a trainer.”

Chief among Minella Study’s rivals is One Horse Town, who has won each of his four starts over hurdles for Harry Derham, progressing from success at Hexham during the summer to landing a Grade Two prize at Cheltenham four weeks ago.

Dan Skelton’s newcomer Arnolphe, Nicky Henderson’s French recruit Macshadow Des Crai and Joseph O’Brien’s Irish raider Cinammon Coco also feature in a 10-strong field.