Paul Nicholls defends Cheltenham in wake of Paul and Clare Rooney's decision to boycott track
Wednesday 2 January 2019 09:07, UK
Paul Nicholls and John Hales have defended Cheltenham after criticism from leading owners Paul and Clare Rooney of the prestige National Hunt venue.
The Rooneys, who have emerged among the leading owners in the sport, confirmed earlier this week that they have instructed their trainers not to run any of their growing string at Cheltenham.
Cheltenham came under fire after a report into seven equine fatalities at the 2018 Festival, while the Rooneys lost one of their best-known horses - Starchitect - in the 2017 Caspian Caviar Gold Cup.
Multiple champion trainer Nicholls enjoyed another big Cheltenham winner on New Year's Day with Aux Ptits Soins, and reacting to the Rooneys' decision, he told the Racing Post: "They are within their rights to do whatever they want with their horses, but I've never had a problem with Cheltenham.
"If they want to run somewhere else, that's fine, they can go somewhere else. Nobody has to run here.
"However, in all my years training, I've not had one owner who said they didn't want to have runners at Cheltenham. It would be like a Premier League player saying he wasn't going to play at Wembley because he didn't like the pitch.
"[Clerk of the course] Simon Claisse works incredibly hard. I know he feels this is a kick in the teeth but there are an awful lot of people who support him. All I have for Cheltenham is 100 per cent praise - they are so professional here and no stone is left unturned to make sure everything is right for horses and jockeys."
Hales, who owns Aux Ptits Soins and also owned the legendary One Man, has enjoyed ups and downs of his own at Cheltenham, seeing the hugely promising Granit Jack killed more than a decade ago.
"It was an accident and you have to accept that," Hales said.
"There is risk in our sport and I accept that. I love the sport and I've had a lot of success at Cheltenham. This is where I want to be, particularly at the Festival."
Asked if he would ever boycott Cheltenham, Hales added: "Never. You couldn't be with better people and they go to tremendous lengths to make the course as safe as it possibly can be."
