Nicholls narrows the gap

Paul Nicholls narrowed the gap on Martin Pipe in the trainers’ championship race with the help of a near 13-1 double through Sweet Diversion and The Persuader at Stratford yesterday.

Nicholls’ only two runners on the card were ridden with real panache by Christian Williams, and the trainer was also on the mark with Earth Man at Wincanton.

Pipe managed to land only one of the novice hurdles at that meeting, so the Nicholls camp reduced the deficit to around £24,000 (€35,100) from in excess of £38,000 (€55,500) at the start of the day in the quest to wrest the title from the 14-times champion.