The 14-times champion jumps trainer has yet to register another Grade 1 triumph since the returning 2024 hero Pic D’Orhy struck gold in this weekend’s feature contest 12 months ago.

He admits that some of his horses have struggled during the winter months, citing the January flu jabs as something which has effected his team more severely this season.

Speaking on Thursday’s episode of the Nick Luck Daily, Nicholls also reflected on the year being enjoyed by former assistant Dan Skelton, who leads Nicholls by over £600,000 in the current title race.

He said: “I’ve been amazingly lucky to have had 150 Grade 1 winners, all those amazing horses, but they don’t grow on trees and it takes a bit of a cycle.

“We’ve a lot of young horses coming through who’ll do the job and some horses who aren’t going to be good enough, we know that. It’s just the way that it is at the moment and you can’t expect to have all those top horses all of the time.

“I think better ground will definitely help some of them. I know some of the younger horses have had a bit of a cold and haven’t been quite right, some of them aren’t performing right.

“As a trainer you see signs at home and nothing’s coughing, nothing’s got a dirty nose, they’re all OK but then they’ll finish weakly and you find out they’ve perhaps got a bit of a cold or a slightly dirty trach-wash.

“It just seems that after January, when we do the flu jabs, it’s knocked them for six this year, which to me has always been the opposite, I think three or four years ago on this weekend we had eight winners across the three meetings.

“But it’s not too bad, we’ve still got a 19% strike-rate which is what Dan’s (Skelton) doing and he’s flying. We just need to do better and it will come right. Those guys have all learnt so much from Clifford (Baker, head lad) and they’re always looking for the next edge. But we’ve always got the best out of what we’ve got and will continue to do so.

“Of course Dan’s got the bit between his teeth, he’s at the right age and I almost once called him ‘mini-me’, he’s like I was all those years ago, except he’s got a bigger set-up really, and huge investment from his dad and family which is obviously a massive help. He’s doing well and he will be champion trainer this year, unless Nicky (Henderson) wins everything, as Dan will have it all covered and plenty of horses to run in the spring.

“I’ll be mightily proud of what he’s done. He’s done well as have all those lads, the trainers that have been through out systems, so we’ve done that right.”

‘We’ll be back, don’t worry about that’

In an attempt to turn the Ditcheat stable’s fortunes around, Nicholls is set to lean more heavily on the services of his daughter and former jockey, Megan, who is “going to get quite a bit more involved for me” in terms of the sourcing of young horses.

A story by Jack Keane published on The Sun website on Wednesday evening suggested that a complete split between Nicholls and long-time bloodstock agent Tom Malone was not necessarily the case, and on Thursday the trainer reiterated that the situation had been “blown out of proportion” but did confirm that Megan would be taking a much more prominent role.

He said: “Megan’s been trying to find a few for me, I like to use Megan for obvious reasons but she’s obviously busy with her television commitments and all the stuff she does. But she’s found Dan some nice horses and she’s keen to find me some.

“Tom’s found some nice horses over the years but the last three or four years, I have to say, we’re probably lacking some stars, and you’ve got to keep looking forwards.

“Tom has lots of clients, he doesn’t just work for me so I can use who I want as well. So, in effect, I’ve been looking down other avenues. It’s no big thing at all, Tom and I have always been mates and always will be. But it doesn’t mean I’ve got to use him to buy everything.

“We could have had a better record over the past two or three years and that goes without saying. It’s frustrating when you have times like this but I reckon in 33 years of training it’s the first time ever we’ve had what I’d called a bit of a quieter time with the horses.

“But we’ll be back, don’t worry about that.”

‘He’s a very smart horse’

Pic D’Orhy faces five rivals including Corbetts Cross and last year’s runner-up L’Homme Presse as he bids give Nicholls a timely boost by going back-to-back in Saturday’s Betfair Ascot Chase, the highlight of a seven-race card which also features the Grade 2 Ebony Horse Club Reynoldstown Novices’ Chase.

Nicholls is looking forward to the opportunity to get back among the winners in top-class company with a “fresh” horse who was last seen winning the Grade 2 CopyBet 1965 Chase over the same course and distance on November 23.

He said: “We’re looking forward to it, the best thing that we did was not run him the other day at Windsor in that very testing ground again.

“He obviously won very, very well (at Ascot in November) and the fact that we didn’t run that day means he’s nice and fresh and well which is a plus, he looks great and he’s been working really nicely. If he runs like he did last year, he’s going to be the one to beat.”

Of the opposition, Nicholls added: “You just wonder whether two miles and five would be a bit sharp for him (Corbetts Cross), he won at the Festival last year over three miles, six and he probably ran a little bit below expectations in the King George. Perhaps he’s the little bit of an unknown in the race.

“L’Homme Presse was in good form the other day, it just strikes me that he’s a little bit better going left-handed and at Cheltenham he needed every bit of three mile, one to beat Stage Star. So it’s an interesting race but this trip, the track and ground suits us perfectly so we’re in a good place and really looking forward to it.

“We’ve always felt these tracks have suited him and Johnny (de la Hey, owner) has never been that mad to run him in a Ryanair (Chase), we always ran him in this race and thought we’d go to Aintree with him which worked two years ago. But he’s never really been thought of as a Cheltenham, more a horse who likes a flatter track over the undulations of Cheltenham.

“He’s not your top Grade 1 horse who is going to win a Ryanair, but he’s a very smart horse who can win these sort of races by placing him right.”

More from Sporting Life

Safer gambling

We are committed in our support of safer gambling. Recommended bets are advised to over-18s and we strongly encourage readers to wager only what they can afford to lose.

If you are concerned about your gambling, please call the National Gambling Helpline / GamCare on 0808 8020 133.

Further support and information can be found at begambleaware.org and gamblingtherapy.org.