The names Nicholls and Henderson are synonymous with National Hunt racing.
But now they are appearing in point-to-pointing too, thanks to the daughters of the top trainers.
On 5 January, 16-year-old Megan Nicholls broke her pointing duck, winning on Gwanako — who is trained by Big Buck’s’ groom Rose Loxton — at Larkhill in the AGA ladies’ open.
“Gwanako was absolutely amazing, he really looked after me,” said Megan. “Dad was quite nervous. But I’ve been really lucky having the best people around to give me advice.”
Megan, who was a regular on the pony racing circuit and aims to be a jockey, is now looking forward to the rest of the season.
“Gwanako is due to run on 2 February at Milborne St Andrew, and I have a ride on Join Together at Chaddesley Corbett on 9 February,” she added.
Camilla Henderson wins on Khyber Kim
Camilla Henderson scored at Cottenham (29 December) with the Grade One-winning hurdler Khyber Kim in the novice riders’ contest.
The horse had only run in 1 chase before, but it was a 3rd win between the flags for Camilla.
“I’m going to stick to the novice riders’ races this season and see how we get on,” Camilla said. “I’d love to put him in a hunter chase under Rules, but that is a dream scenario.
“I’ve been riding out for Marcus’ [Foley, trainer] as much as I can and he’s a pretty easy-going horse. Obviously, there’s a bit more pressure, riding in Caroline Mould’s [who also owns Sprinter Sacre] colours and with Khyber Kim’s history, but I’m enjoying it.”
Will there be competition between the 2 camps?
“Megan’s a friend of mine — I’m sure we’ll find ourselves riding against each other at some point, but there’s no rivalry there,” said Camilla.
This story was originally published in 16 January 2014 issue of Horse & Hound
