David Ord on a big day at Cheltenham for a trainer who has had so many over the years.
He’s roared home plenty of Cheltenham Festival winners in this parade ring before.
The Modus Operandi is always the same. Give him space to the front and the back. He needs it. The eyes never leave the big screen, but the mannerisms become more agitated.
The first sign is the clapping of hands, he’s interested at that stage, then another. There’s a bounce in the legs, and then the shouts of encouragement. It reaches a crescendo, where for a millisecond he’s in his own world. The back is turned to the screen, another clap and punch of the air. Turn back round for the moment they cross the line, and the hugs, handshakes and high fives break out.
Nothing matters to Paul Nicholls like a winner during this week.
Now he’s had 50 of them.
