Paul Nicholls believes there’s a lot more to come from Caldwell Potter following his victory in Friday’s Huyton Asphalt Franny Blennerhassett Memorial Mildmay Novices’ Chase at Aintree.
Caldwell Potter carried a weight of expectation this season following his high-profile purchase for £634,000 and some pundits were quick to knock him after a less than auspicious start to the campaign.
The grey started his season with victory at Carlisle but defeat followed at Cheltenham in December and again at Windsor when second to Gidleigh Park but he turned expectations on their head with victories at the spring festivals.
Caldwell Potter turned in an exhilarating display in the Grade 2 Jack Richards Novices’ Limited Handicap Chase at Cheltenham before successfully stepping up in trip and class in the Grade 1 at Aintree.
“He’s completely turned the corner since Windsor,” Nicholls told Racing TV’s Luck On Sunday.
“I was getting plenty of advice, plenty of talk that he was a two miler. John [Hales, late owner] was convinced he was but there was no way, he’s all about stamina.
“At Windsor, he ran okay, ran to good form with Gidleigh Park but since then he’s turned the corner massively – most of our horses have – but he’s had problems with his feet, we’ve managed to get on top of that.”
Nicholls’ pride in Caldwell Potter’s achievements is unmistakable and the Ditcheat handler is excited about the future.
“For any horse to go and win at Cheltenham and then a Grade 1 at Aintree – there’s not many that win at both meetings these days and I think he’s the only one this year. It’s great to have him back with the potential he’s got for the future; now we know how to deal with him it’s fantastic.
“It was always John’s ambition to buy a couple of nice horses to perhaps run in the Gold Cup one day and that might be the ultimate aim. He’s put one foot on the ladder towards that but we haven’t made any definite plans, we’ll give him a nice holiday now and see where we start off in the autumn.
“He is slightly better left-handed, I’ve got no doubt about that, so whether we look at something like the Betfair Chase and plan his races out a little bit. I don’t think he was at his best at Aintree because it’s hard to produce them at their very best and run at Cheltenham.
“I think by spacing his runs out we can get him a lot better. We’ve become aware what we need to do to get him right. He’s an exciting horse and I think we’ve only scratched the surface of his potential.”
Leave a Reply