Racing Will Miss Nicholson

National Hunt racing owes David Nicholson a great debt, for not only was he a leading jump jockey and champion trainer, he was also a champion of the sport.

Never afraid to support a cause he felt fervently about, he could sometimes tread on people's toes.

That was because he was incredibly passionate about the sport he loved and he dedicated his entire life to it.

Nicholson, who died on Sunday at the age of 67, also had a loyal partner in his wife Dinah, to whom he was married for 44 years.

Nicholson was born and bred into the racing game. Apprenticed to his father, the legendary ?Frenchie' Nicholson, he rode on the Flat at the age of 12. After only four rides he was aboard Irish Lizard in the 1957 Grand National, only to part company with his mount in the Aintree marathon.

But something as minor as a fall was never going to dampen his enthusiasm.

He was a leading jump jockey for 20 years at a time when weighing-room colleagues that included Terry Biddlecombe and Josh Gifford worked hard and played hard.

Although never champion, he captured many of the winter game's top prizes, including the 1967 Whitbread Gold Cup on the great Mill House.

He was always destined to become a trainer, however, and first took out a licence at his home at Condicote in 1968 even though he continued riding until 1974.

Despite enjoying considerable success he was almost forced under by near bankruptcy in the 1980s before managing to turn things around.

He went on to achieve one of his life's ambitions by winning the Gold Cup at his beloved Cheltenham in 1988 with Charter Party, a victory that would have a tremendous bearing on the future.

Nicholson and Charter Party's part-owner Colin Smith got together to build Jackdaws Castle. The dream become a reality on October 1 1992 when Nicholson moved his team the four miles from Condicote.

It may only have been a short journey but it was a massive leap as the state-of-the-art jumping yard ushered a new dawn in National Hunt racing.

The stable went from strength to strength very quickly and in 1994, Nicholson managed to break Martin Pipe's stranglehold on the trainers' title by being champion two seasons in a row.

Racegoers and punters alike took such stars as Viking Flagship, Barton Bank, Waterloo Boy and Moorcroft Boy to their hearts. They epitomised Nicholson's runners, always trying their best and remarkably consistent.

It was not just equine heroes that Nicholson nurtured for, like his late father, ?The Duke' as he was universally known, produced a conveyor belt of top jockeys. They included such household names as Peter Scudamore, Richard Dunwoody and Adrian Maguire.

He was also a friend of royalty. Successful in the Queen Mother's colours in his riding days, Nicholson groomed Princess Anne from a top equestrian rider to stylish jockey.

Surprisingly maybe, he was superstitious and was rarely seen at the races without wearing his customary red socks.

When he retired in 1999, Nicholson remained extremely active and could often be seen at the track.

National Hunt racing will be all the poorer without him.

(C) PA Sport