Paul Nicholls seems all delighted after Rocky Creek and Tidal Bay gave a stunning performance on Monday morning at Wincanton in an 8 horse course gallop. Tidal Bay particularly had Nicholls overflowing with excitement as he witnessed a trial intended to take the racing pair to its zenith condition for the upcoming race on 5th of April at the Aintree Racecourse.
Bursting with enthusiasm, Nicholls commented that Tidal Bay still looks fresh even after a to mile long workout. These two National level runners began almost 10 lengths after another pair from their stable, however finished right behind them, running strongly. During the race, Sam Twiston-Davies was on Tidal Bay whereas Noel Fehily was on Rocky Creek.
Twiston-Davies commented post passing the final gallop that it almost took him hundred extra yards to make Tidal Bay steady so that the rest of the jockeys could take their mount. He further added that this is plain amazing for a horse that is so young. Tidal Bay absolutely personifies class and very few contenders like him are around that are so graceful. He just wishes that the ace runner was still 8, however like wine; he has become better with age.
Nicholls commented that Tidal absolutely loves to run but hasn’t been in action for some time, however this day out will do him wonders. He further added that he would definitely keep Tidal Bay for the upcoming Grand National, as his second favorite. He has asked Twiston Davis to carefully go through the film that Daryl Jacob presented Nicholls’s Nepture Collonges as the bagged the race in 2012. He stressed on the fact that similar tactics should be great for Tidal.
Later talking about Tidal Bay’s form, Twiston Davis reported that Tidal was plain brilliant. They did 2 miles together and even after an extra mile and a half Tidal was still in form. The manner in which he walks in a place, it’s simply hard to admit that he is that old.
Rocky creek has also managed to keep Nicholls much impressed although he hasn’t been much in action recently in the Gold Cup because of a ringworm issue. Although the problem was cosmetic, however taking him all the way to Cheltenham wasn’t much sensible since it was infectious. Nicholls feels a tad regretful about this, as the race was kind of low on quality. Rocky could have been a major competition in the Gold Cup, nonetheless lots of hope are rested on him for the Grand Nationals.
Nicholls for a number of reasons feels that Rocky is in fantastic form right now everyone is looking forward to how he performs. Since he finished 2nd the previous time in January at Cheltenham, hence he has to prove him a little bit. Nicholls strongly feels that Rocky is definitely capable of running very well at present and has a good change of bagging the title. Talking about his jockeys, Nicholls commented that he is quite pleased with all his lads.
