BIG FELLA THANKS
b g Primitive Rising (USA) - Nunsdream (Derrylin) 8-10-12
Form: 112/322U136-2U1
Owner: Maggie Findlay & Paul Barber
Trainer: Paul Nicholls
Breeder: R J Wilding
Big Fella Thanks was named by part-owner Harry Findlay after his favourite greyhound, who won the National Coursing Derby at Clonmel in 1999. The Primitive Rising gelding made two appearances in Irish point-to-points for Liam Burke, beating stablemate Herecomesthetruth in a Carrigtwohill maiden in February, 2007, and coming a neck second in a winner of one at Ballyragget the following month. He joined the Ditcheat yard of Paul Nicholls soon after and made his UK debut in a maiden hurdle at Chepstow in January, 2008, when he beat Buck The Legend by 10 lengths.
He followed up with another convincing success under a penalty later the same month, taking a novices’ hurdle at Taunton by nine lengths, despite idling in front, and finished his first campaign with a good second in an Ayr handicap hurdle in mid-April. Big Fella Thanks began the 2008/09 season in a beginners’ chase at Chepstow in October, making most of the running prior to being headed near the line by Wichita Lineman and West End Rocker.
He also tired in the closing stages on his next appearance at Cheltenham in November, when coming home second to Ballyfitz, and the application of blinkers appeared not to have the desired effect in a beginners’ chase at Taunton on his next appearance the following month, when Big Fella Thanks was collared near the line by Itsa Legend. Further disappointment followed in a handicap chase at Kempton’s Christmas meeting, as he unseated Christian Williams at the third last. Big Fella Thanks finally opened his account over fences in the Listed Sky Bet Chase at Doncaster in January, 2009, when he produced a far more confident round of jumping to take the lead three fences out before staying on well to win by 11 lengths.
Following such an impressive display, Big Fella Thanks was sent off a warm 7/2 favourite for the Grade Three Racing Post Chase at Kempton the following month but could not catch the front-running Nacarat and eventually stayed on to take third behind the Tom George-trained chaser and Possol. He then lined up in the John Smith’s Grand National and ran a good race to finish sixth, beaten 23 lengths, behind Mon Mome.
The current season began with a second behind Carruthers in a graduation chase at Newbury in December, while he unseated Ruby Walsh two out in a similar event at Kempton in February. He regained the winning thread last time out when landing the Grade Three Greatwood Gold Cup Handicap Chase at Newbury on March 6.
Race Record: Starts: 13; Wins: 5; 2nd: 4; 3rd: 2; Win & Place Prize Money: £122,327
Paul Barber and Margaret Findlay :Paul Barber’s family have farmed near Ditcheat since the 1830s and he oversees a 2,000-strong dairy herd on 3,000 acres, having started with 150 cows on 150 acres that now produce 45 tonnes of cheese daily for Barbers and Maryland Farmhouse Cheese, run by Paul’s brother Nicholas. Paul - who has been allergic to cheese since the age of five - was born on December 31, 1942, on the kitchen table in the house where he still lives, stating “I’ve never thought about living elsewhere” and despite no family involvement with racing, has been an owner since his purchase in 1958 of a horse that cost £450 and had to be paid for in instalments. He has never owned a Flat horse and his first winner was Crazy Slave, who scored in 1963.
The best horse he has been involved with is the 2008 totesport Cheltenham Gold Cup hero Denman, who also finished runner-up in the same race in 2009 and 2010. Other top-class horses he has owned include the 1999 totesport Cheltenham Gold Cup winner See More Business. He paid £82,000 for Denman and refuses to pay over the odds for a horse after being stung when making a couple of expensive purchases following See More Business’s success. “Back then I bought a couple of horses which to my mind cost too much money. One thing all horses have in common are that they are bloody expensive,” he said . Others who have carried his colours include See More Indians, who won eight races out of 14, and the John Thorne-trained Artifice.
Barber owns Nicholls’s Manor Farm Stables, initially converted from a cow shed, and his house overlooks Denman’s stable. Many of his best performers have had an initial grounding in point-to-points, either with Liam Burke in Ireland or Barber’s brother Richard at Seaborough in Dorset. Barber’s partner in many of his horses is professional gambler Harry Findlay.
Denman, like many of Findlay’s horses, runs in the name of his mother Margaret, like his late father a former nurse from Glasgow. The London-born Findlay, who lives near Bath, is a one-time greyhound trainer who is now best known as a fearless high-stakes punter on sports and racing. He is a regular winner of the Tote’s Scoop 6 bet and specialises in long odds-on bets on Betfair but met his biggest reverse when losing £2.7 million after backing New Zealand to win the 2007 Rugby World Cup. He met Paul Barber at Doncaster sales and the duo have teamed up to own a number of jump horses who - apart from Denman - include Racing Post Chase winner Gungadu, Desert Quest, who landed the 2006 Vincent O’Brien County Handicap Hurdle and Big Fella Thanks, named after his best greyhound.
John Smith’s Grand National Record (Paul Barber): 1996 Deep Bramble (PU bef 29th); 1998 General Crack (PU bef 11th), 2009 Big Fella Thanks (6th) (for Paul Barber & Maggie Findlay)
Paul Nicholls: Paul Nicholls, the son of a policeman, was born on April 17, 1962, and has been training at Manor Farm Stables in Ditcheat, Somerset, since taking out a licence on November 1, 1991. He started out in racing as a jump jockey and twice rode the winner of the Hennessy Cognac Gold Cup at Newbury - in 1986 on Broadheath and a year later on Playschool, both sent out by Devon trainer David Barons. Nicholls partnered 130 winners between 1980 and 1989, struggling always to keep his weight down, and nominates the best horses he rode as Broadheath, Playschool and Seagram. Between 1989 and 1991, he was assistant trainer to Barons, who sent out Seagram to win the 1991 Grand National at Aintree during that time.
He has always trained at Paul Barber's Manor Far, initially with just eight horses. Having strongly challenged Martin Pipe for the jump trainers' championship over a number of years, most notably when pushing his great rival right to the last day of the 2004/05 campaign, Nicholls claimed his first title the following season, being responsible for 148 winners and gaining over £2.4 million in prize money. He retained the title the next season with 124 successes and nearly £2,950,000 in prize money.
The hugely talented Kauto Star was the stable's flag-bearer, with victories in the Old Roan Chase at Aintree, the Betfair Chase at Haydock Park, Sandown's Tingle Creek Chase, the King George VI Chase at Kempton, Newbury's AON Chase and the totesport Cheltenham Gold Cup. Kauto Star thus became the first horse to land the Betfair Million, the huge bonus then put up by the leading betting exchange for success in the Betfair Chase, King George VI Chase and totesport Cheltenham Gold Cup. In the 2007/08 season, Kauto Star was runner-up in the Gold Cup but Nicholls also trained his conqueror, the mighty Denman, and ended up champion trainer again with 151 winners and over £3.6 million in prize money. In the 2008/09 season, Nicholls was champion again with his best tally yet of 155 winners and just under £3.5 million in prize money.
That season, Kauto Star landed a third King George VI Chase and became the first horse to reclaim the Gold Cup when defeating Denman by 13 lengths. Nicholls pulled off the amazing feat of saddling seven winners and three seconds from his 10 runners on Saturday, November 7, 1998, and made history when he became the first trainer to saddle six winners on the same card, at Wincanton, his local track, on Saturday, January 21, 2006.
Another high point in his training career came at the 1999 Cheltenham Festival when he captured the major chase on each of the three days - Flagship Uberalles in The Irish Independent Arkle Chase, Call Equiname in the Queen Mother Champion Chase and, best of all, See More Business took the totesport Cheltenham Gold Cup. Nicholls has trained 27 Cheltenham Festival winners in total, making him the fifth most successful trainer at The Festival of all time, and he was the most successful trainer at The Festival in 1999, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009. In 2009, as well as Kauto Star’s triumph, he saddled Master Minded to a second win in the Seasons Holidays Queen Mother Champion Chase, while Big Buck’s captured the staying hurdlers’ crown when winning the Ladbrokes World Hurdle. Other highlights at The Festival so far include Azertyuiop’s victories in The Irish Independent Arkle Trophy and the Seasons Holidays Queen Mother Champion Chase.
His feat in 2009 of saddling the winners of the Seasons Holidays Queen Mother Champion Chase, the Ladbrokes World Hurdle and the totesport Cheltenham Gold Cup had only been achieved once before (by Jim Dreaper in 1975). This season Denman landed a second Hennessy Gold Cup under top-weight, while Kauto Star became the first horse to win the King George VI Chase for a fourth consecutive year. However, the trainer was unable to land the totesport Cheltenham Gold Cup this year, with Kauto Star falling four out and Denman finishing second to Imperial Commander. Master Minded was also unable to retain his Champion Chase crown, finishing only fourth, but Big Buck’s did win a second consecutive Ladbrokes World Hurdle.
John Smith’s Grand National Record: 1992 Just So (6th); 1996 Vicompt De Valmont (10th), Deep Bramble (PU bef 2 out), Brackenfield (UR 19th); 1997 Straight Talk (Fell 14th); 1998 What A Hand (Fell 1st), Court Melody (Fell 6th), General Crack (PU 11th); 1999 Strong Chairman (15th), Double Thriller (Fell 1st), 2000 Earthmover (Fell 4th), Torduff Express (Fell 13th), Flaked Oats (Fell 20th), Escartefigue (UR 30th); 2001 Earthmover (Fell 4th); 2002 Murt’s Man (PU bef 17th), Ad Hoc (BD 27th); 2003 Montifault (5th), Fadalko (UR 6th), Ad Hoc (UR 19th), Shotgun Willy (PU bef 22nd), Torduff Express (UR 27th); 2004 Exit To Wave (PU bef 9th); 2005 Royal Auclair (2nd), Heros Collonges (8th), L’Aventure (15th), Ad Hoc (Fell 22nd); 2006 Royal Auclair (Fell 1st), Le Roi Miguel (PU bef 19th), Cornish Rebel (PU bef 19th), Silver Birch (Fell 15th), Le Duc (UR 8th), Heros Collonges (UR 15th); 2007 Royal Auclair (Fell 9th), Le Duc (UR 6th), Eurotrek (PU bef 22nd), Thisthatandtother (PU bef 30th); 2008 Cornish Sett (12th), Mr Pointment (PU bef last), Turko (Fell 25th); 2009 My Will (3rd), Big Fella Thanks (6th), Cornish Sett (17th), Eurotrek (PU 17th)
