Megan Nicholls to begin sourcing horses for dad Paul in bid to turn stable’s fortunes around

PAUL NICHOLLS is turning to his daughter Megan in a bid to turn the stable's fortunes around.

The 14-time champion trainer is enduring one of the toughest seasons of his career and is a 33-1 longshot to win the championship this year.

And high-profile defeats for some big-money buys, notably Caldwell Potter and Regent’s Stroll who cost a combined £1.27 million, has seen Tom Malone, the bloodstock agent who sources most of Nicholls’ horses, come in for some scrutiny.

Nicholls denied there had been a split between the two men, but he is set to shake things up in an attempt to beat the likes of Willie Mullins and Nicky Henderson to the best horses on the market.

And 26-year-old ex-jock Megan, who combines her punditry work on ITV with selling and buying horses, is expected to play a big role in the sourcing of new talent for her dad going forwards.

Nicholls said: “I’ve been hearing all sorts of rumours, Tom and I are good mates but there has never been any contract between us.

“He’s a freelance and he buys plenty for me, so do several others. He’s got lots of clients, I just haven’t been buying any of late, we will wait until the spring and kick on.

“I’m going to work with everybody, but Megan is going to get quite a bit more involved for me.

“Results could have gone better over the last few years but that’s the way things are, it’s very hard buying these days.

“I’ll keep all avenues open, but more so than ever I’d like to get Megan much more involved on that front.”

Malone, who rode 70 winners under Rules as a jumps jockey before becoming a bloodstock agent 15 years ago, said he has no issues with Nicholls decision.

He said: "Myself and Paul haven't had too many discussions but from the outside I can totally see why he wants to use Meg more.

"We are having a tough year with results but I think that time will prove in the next season or two, when things are rocking and rolling, there are plenty of good horses in the yard."

Nicholls is remaining upbeat heading into the business end of the season despite an indifferent run of form.

But after a couple of his horses who were beaten last weekend returned dirty scopes, he is thinking of treading carefully with a few of his younger ones, including the exciting Just A Rose who is entered at Ascot on Saturday.

He said: "I'm not 100 per cent sure if she'll go to Ascot. If she doesn't go there she'll go to Taunton in a fortnight and then on to Cheltenham.

"Some of the younger horses have been a little bit out of sorts, there is no denying it and I'm not sure why. It's why I'm a little bit nervous about Just A Rose, I want to make sure she is absolutely right before I run her again.

"It's just the way it goes at times, you've just got to keep your head down and keep going, we've been here before.

"One or two of them scoped dirty afterwards, but nothing too bad and nothing is coughing or anything. The trouble is they can't talk to you and tell you what's wrong.

"We are in a little bit of a rut at the moment, but we will be alright."

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