Product Description

Paul Nicholls is the former jockey who began training in 1991. Gradually he built up a reputation as one of the most astute and successful trainers in the business, with a special knack for getting it right on the big occasions. His depth of resources meant that on a unique occasion at Wincanton in January 2006, he became the first trainer ever to have six winners on a card. But it is for his role as the trainer of horses such as See More Business, Kauto Star and Denman, all of them Cheltenham Gold Cup winners, that he is best known. In this revealing and honest memoir, Champion Trainer Nicholls explains how he got to the top of his sport, and provides a fascinating insight into his methods and to the horses, jockeys and owners that have helped him achieve so much. Packed with insider stories that all race fans will love and a foreword from Sir Alex Ferguson, this is without doubt the essential racing book of 2009.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #165 in Books
• Published on: 2009-10-12
• Released on: 2009-10-12
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 304 pages

About the Author
Paul Nicholls is the country's most successful National Hunt trainer, winning the Cheltenham Gold Cup on four occasions, and also crowned British jump racing Champion Trainer four times.

Customer Reviews

Good open account
Because Paul Nicholls is a very open, up front man much of the content of the book which which has an element of controversy is already in the public domain and was the subject of much press coverage at the time. That said, it is good to have it all in one place and to revisit it all. It is a very well written book, reads easily and I've no doubt I'll read it again in the years to come. There is enough in there for the non racing fan to keep interested and it avoids the fault of many racing biographies of endlessly reeling out statistics and details of minor races.

Banker-Material, really
OK, hands up, this is the racing biography every National Hunt fan has been waiting for, and how can a book about all these famous horses fail to deliver? Expectations naturally were sky-high when the book finally arrived, and to be honest, I was slightly disappointed at first as the book DOES start a bit slow (maybe like Paul Nicholls himself as a jockey), but it does gather momentum eventually and finishes with a rush, an easy winner. A bit keen early on to convince his readers what a tough and hard-grafting bloke Nicholls was even as a young lad, once a trainer the story-telling gets more self-assured and relaxed, and it certainly does not come as a surprise that Nicholls has some stories to tell.
Even so stressing throughout the book that no professional should get emotionally attached to his horses, its good to read that some horses slip that net and became firm Nicholls favorites, the wonderful See More Business and Kauto Star first and foremost. Nicholls recalls famous wins and famous horses, does not spare with the odd crititc in the right place (he is rather outspoken about Flagship Ueberalls' american owners and about Oliver Carter, and I certainly agree on both counts); and all this in a very easy to read and fluent manner.
Apart from starting a bit slowly, the one other critic would probably be that Nicholls goes into too much detail about the Timmy-Murphy-episode, even though surely from his (Nicholls) point of view it was as embarrising as it comes.
Having given all possible stars to the Mick Fitzgerald biography, this book is ever so slightly below that particular book, but is most certainly a cracking read in its own right.

Get it and treasure a trip down the memory lane, and wait for Kauto Star to create more history in 2009/10. Even though Nicholls is still a relatively "young" trainer, this book does come at a good time, but it will be facinating to see the follow-up volume develop in front of our eyes over the next years.

Lucky Break
I got this for my husband who loves Horse Racing and he can not put it down, says one of the best books he has read.