David Nicholson's training career, which has spanned over 30 years, came to an end yesterday when Castle Owen finished third to Storm Of Gold in the Market Rasen Sponsorship Club Novices' Chase.
Nicholson, who handed over the reins of his Jackdaws Castle training establishment to his assistant of 12 years, Alan King, from midnight last night, first took out a licence to train in 1968 after being a successful jockey when he rode over 600 winners, the best of which was Mill House in the 1967 Whitbread Gold Cup.
And it was King who represented his boss with Nicholson having said his farewells at Plumpton on Wednesday. King said: "It's a shame he couldn't finish on a winner but the horse jumped into the back of Storm Of Gold at the last ditch which didn't help." King starts as a fully-fledged trainer at Sandown today when he saddles Zafarabad and Baronet.
Nicholson regards the Cheltenham Festival in March 1995 as a big highlight when he sent out a three-timer: Putty Road, Viking Flagship and Kadi. Charter Party's win the Gold Cup in 1988 also gave him immense pleasure.
A potential clash between two of Saturday's big races has been avoided after the intervention of the British Horseracing Board. Both the Mitsubishi Shogun Tingle Creek Trophy Chase at Sandown and Chepstow's Coral Rehearsal Chase were scheduled to start at 2.30 p.m. after the BBC had reportedly altered Chepstow's times to fit into the schedule for their programme, Grandstand.
But the BBC yesterday agreed to alter the timings so that the £35,000 Rehearsal Chase can be shown five minutes later at 2.35 p.m. and thus avoid an unwanted clash with the Sandown race, which is to be screened on Channel 4.
Meanwhile, Robert Alner, who rarely waxes lyrical about his horses, was in overdrive following Kates Charm's winning debut over fences at Wincanton yesterday. The mare treated racegoers to an exemplary round of jumping when making all under Andrew Thornton to thrash Vent D'Aout by 11 lengths in the novices' chase.
"I don't normally aim too high but with a mare of her class we would have to keep our options open and think of something decent maybe at the Cheltenham Festival next March," said Alner.
Martin Pipe's Mite Equal regained the winning thread after staying on too stoutly for Impala to lift the Tote Place Betting Handicap Hurdle by two and a half lengths after taking the initiative approaching the second last.
Pipe and jockey Tony McCoy doubled up when Take Control lived up to his name on his British debut with a comfortable five-length victory from Richmond Lady in the concluding Cerne Abbas Novices Handicap Hurdle.
Robert Widger survived a monumental third last fence blunder on Norlandic before going on to take the Somerset Handicap Chase for his boss Philip Hobbs by a length from Dictamn.
