Stage Star triumph ends an unlikely Cheltenham hoodoo for Paul Nicholls

H ow the mighty had fallen. A 13-times British champion trainer who had saddled the first home in 46 Festival races including four Gold Cups, six Champion Chases and one Champion Hurdle before Thursday’s card got under way, Paul Nicholls might have been forgiven for wondering if he would ever again welcome one of his charges back into the winners enclosure during the annual March festivities at Cheltenham.

Given all his previous successes, masterminded in partnership with the help of household names such as Kauto Star, Denman, Frodon, Big Buck’s and Flagship Uberalles, among others, by his own remarkable standards one of the best trainers in the business had endured a scarcely credible barren spell ahead of the marketing confection and orgy of paddywhackery that was St Patrick’s Thursday.

After 18 consecutive years of success at the Festival, Nicholls had somehow failed to send out a winner since 2020 and in Hermes Allen had already seen arguably his leading fancy for this year absolutely trounced in Wednesday’s Ballymore Hurdle. It was a dispiriting and familiar story that summed up his frustrations with Festival life; seeing his horse go off as favourite only to get emphatically beaten in a race where Willie Mullins sent out the first three home.

Just 24 hours later in Thursday’s opener, Stage Star finally ended the drought. Booted home after a fine frontrunning ride by Harry Cobden, he prompted a flurry of exultant fist-pumps and West Country whooping from the horse’s clearly delighted whisperer. Nicholls has masterminded victory in far more prestigious Festival races but could not have looked more pleased at having finally put one over on the combined forces of Irish raiders sent into battle by Mullins and Gordon