"It's the same sort of logic and training routine. Animals are creatures of habit, you can't just click your fingers and it takes time. You've got to get them fit and build that fitness up, and prep them through their feeding and so on before the race."
"It's a dying sport, pigeon racing, but in the north-east of England, it was massive, 20, 30, 40 years ago, with all the pitmen and that. I'm the only lad in the village that does it now. It kept me out of trouble as a kid—what else would you do, hang around the streets or something?"
"He has a 100% record at Cheltenham: one runner, one win, when Minella Study took a trial race in December. And while the overall total of nearly 200 elite athletes at his stable in Seahouses stands comparison with the likes of Willie Mullins and Nicky Henderson, all but a couple of dozen have feathers."
Adam Nicol operates a training facility in Seahouses, Northumberland, utilizing the expansive Bamburgh beach for preparing his nearly 200 horses. At 36, he is among the youngest trainers with a Cheltenham festival runner. Nicol's unique background includes decades of pigeon racing experience since childhood, a declining sport in the region where he remains one of few practitioners. He transitioned from a jump jockey career with over 100 winners to training, launching his operation in December 2020. His training philosophy emphasizes consistent routines and gradual fitness development, principles he attributes to pigeon racing experience. Minella Study, his stable's star, achieved a trial victory at Cheltenham in December, establishing Nicol's perfect festival record.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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