Monday marked 30 years since Paul Nicholls sent out his first winner. Here are his five best horses based on their peak Timeform annual rating.
1. Kauto Star (Timeform annual rating 191)
Kauto Star was a phenomenal racehorse, successful in no fewer than 16 Grade 1s in a career that spanned ten season.
He was a useful hurdler when trained in France, but was switched to Paul Nicholls in the 2004/5 season and quickly developed into a much better chaser.
Kauto Star registered his first Grade 1 success in the 2005 Tingle Creek, but it was in the 2006/07 season that Kauto Star really announced himself on the scene, winning all six starts, notably the Betfair Chase at Haydock, the King George at Kempton and the Cheltenham Gold Cup.
In an outstanding career, Kauto Star would go on to win the Betfair Chase four times, the King George five times, and the Cheltenham Gold Cup twice. His best performance on Timeform ratings came in the 2009 King George, when he produced an imperious performance to score by 36 lengths.
The 2011/12 season will be remembered as the most heart-warming as an 11-year-old Kauto Star turned back the clock, producing top-class performances to topple the reigning Cheltenham Gold Cup winner Long Run in the Betfair Chase and King George.
Kauto Star was pulled up at the ninth on his final start in the Cheltenham Gold Cup later that season, his final appearance, like that of the great hurdler Istabraq, something of an anti-climax. However, Kauto Star will long be remembered for his exploits, a superb jumper at his best, whose career was notable for its longevity as well as unprecedented success.
2. See More Business (182)
See More Business endured an indifferent novice campaign in 1996/97 but developed into one of the best chasers of his generation.
His jumping let him down on occasions as a novice but it improved in the 1997/98 season and he was a good winner of the King George at Kempton, where his stamina came into play on soft ground. A win in the Pillar Property Chase (now Cotswolds Chase) followed before he was most unlucky when carried out at the seventh back there in the Cheltenham Gold Cup.
See More Business took his form up a notch when winning the 1999 Cheltenham Gold Cup in first-time blinkers. The headgear totally revitalised him - gone were the mistakes and the laziness of past displays - and he was always travelling and jumping well under a patient ride.
The 1999/00 season proved to be the most prolific of See More Business' career and he put up his best performance when winning a second King George, producing a virtually faultless round of jumping on his way to a 17-length success.
He was still capable of high-class form in 2002/03, but age caught up with him the following campaign and he was retired after attempting to win the Rehearsal Chase at Chepstow for the fourth time as a 13-year-old.
2= Azertyuiop (182)
Azertyuiop was an outstanding chaser at his best. Another French recruit for the yard, he showed smart form over hurdles, notably winning the Elite Hurdle at Wincanton in 2001/02.
He was sent chasing the following season and looked a novice right out of the top drawer, winning all four starts and producing a top-class effort to win the Arkle at Cheltenham. That performance was every bit as good as the one which saw Moscow Flyer run away with the race in similarly impressive fashion the year before, and it set them on a collision course that would thrill racing fans.
Azertyuiop didn’t enjoy the best start to the 2003/04 season as he unseated his rider at the first on his return in the Haldon Gold Cup at Exeter and then finished runner-up to Moscow Flyer in the Tingle Creek at Sandown. However, he put up an outstanding effort in defeat in the Victor Chandler at Ascot, putting up a career-best effort in going down by only a neck to Isio having conceded 19 lb to the winner.
He quickly got back on the winning trail, landing the odds in the Game Spirit at Newbury before putting up an impressive display to run out a nine-length winner of the Champion Chase at Cheltenham.
After playing his part in the spectacular 2004 Tingle Creek in which he finished runner-up to Moscow Flyer, Azertyuiop was tried over three miles in the King George and certainly wasn't disgraced in third over a trip which seemed to stretch him. However, he was right back to his very best when winning a second Game Spirit on his next start, and it was a pity that a bad mistake ended his chance in a rematch with Moscow Flyer in the Champion Chase. He raced on only one more occasion, finishing runner-up to Well Chief in the Celebration Chase.
4. Denman (181)
Denman, affectionately known as ‘The Tank’, was a brilliant staying chaser and one who warmed the hearts of many.
Denman was a smart novice hurdler in the 2005/06 season, with his only defeat from five starts coming in the Royal Sunalliance Novices’ Hurdle at Cheltenham. However, his physique suggested he was always going to make up into an even better chaser and that duly proved to be the case.
He won all five starts during his novice chase campaign, showing top-class form when landing a three-runner novice at Newbury before posting a commanding success in the Royal Sunalliance Novices’ Chase at Cheltenham.
Denman again went unbeaten in the 2007/08 season, starting his campaign with a brilliant weight-carrying performance in the Hennessy at Newbury and signing off with a defeat of better-fancied stablemate Kauto Star in the Cheltenham Gold Cup. Denman put up a brilliant display at Cheltenham, jumping on at the eleventh and galloping on relentlessly.
Denman is also remembered for the second Hennessy he won in the 2009/10 season, when he again carried top weight to victory. He conceded upwards of 12 lb all round in the most competitive of handicaps, putting up a performance that epitomised everything he was about.
That career-best performance on Timeform's figures proved to be Denman’s final win, but he also showed top-class form in defeat when runner-up in the 2010 Gold Cup and when third in the 2010 Hennessy.
5. Master Minded (179)
Master Minded was a superb jumper of a fence and was another success story for the same connections as Kauto Star.
Admittedly, he wasn’t too assured in the jumping department on his first start in Britain as he unseated in a graduation chase at Exeter, but he went on to win his next three outings, including the 2008 Champion Chase at Cheltenham in which he put up a stunning display. That career-best performance put him head and shoulders above the others in the two-mile division at the time.
Master Minded was only seen on the track three times in the 2008/09 campaign, but he won all three in excellent fashion, becoming the first horse since Viking Flagship (in 1994 and 1995) to land back-to-back renewals of the Champion Chase at Cheltenham.
Master Minded went on to show top-class form at two and a half miles when winning the 2011 Melling Chase at Aintree, but he suffered a serious injury in the King George later that year which resulted in his retirement.