Trainer Profile: Adam Nicol

There can be few more scenic locations in Britain to train racehorses than the coastal stretch between Seahouses and Bamburgh. Whilst the majestic Bamburgh Castle offers a majestic view over the North Sea toward Holy Island, majesty of a different order exercises on the beach under the eagle eye of jockey-turned trainer, Adam Nicol.

After around a decade of riding some 120+ winners, the latest in a spate of injuries forced Nicol to draw the inevitable conclusion in 2020 that life was safer out of the Weighing Room. There are plenty of former riders who eschew the training route: not Nicol, who embarked upon his own change of career in some of the most challenging economic circumstances imaginable. Within a few months of ceasing race-riding, he was facing a racing shutdown through the pandemic.

But they make them tough in the North.

This is no silver spoon operation. A small former riding school is base to the aspiring Nicol, with a minimalist approach to training facilities: no all-weather gallop, no swimming pool: one of the longest beaches in England and straight seawater suffice here for easing joints.

And let’s be honest; it’s been far from plain sailing. Five winners from 8 runs, followed by 4 from 16 in his opening two flat seasons spoke of a Bamburgh magic, but the winners haven’t flowed with the frequency Nicol and others might have liked. Some momentum has been raised around the Jumps scene, with a personal best of 19 winners in 2025-26 and six already on the board in the summer months, the charge being led by Hazel Crichton’s Conquer The Breeze, who has chalked up 4 chase victories, three at Hexham.

And as is so often the case with handlers trying to make their mark, valuable exposure from the exploits of Minella Study have shone a light on the expertise of this former rider and his down-to-earth approach.

Bought from an Irish flat yard last summer, the juvenile announced his arrival with a neck second in a class 5 handicap at Musselburgh, before being thrown in the deep end in the Wensleydale Hurdle at Wetherby’s Charlie Hall meeting. That 3/4l success was followed by more of the same in the Grade II juvenile at Cheltenham’s December fixture, putting Minella Study among the leading candidates for the JCB Triumph Hurdle.

The Cheltenham hill finds out many a horse. Minella Study was in control of the race at the last, but he was outpointed by the outsider of Willie Mullins’ nine runners, Apolon de Charnie, and the late-finishing Maestro Conti to finish a 1 1/2l third under Ryan Mania. He’s currently quoted at 66/1 for next year’s Champion Hurdle.

Buoyed by the support of Molly & Paul Willis, who own upwards of a dozen jumpers with Nicol, this dual purpose yard enjoyed a double at our May fixture with Conquer The Breeze and Fine Point, which places Nicol second only to Sam England in the Hexham 2026 stats for leading trainer.

Those stats tell an apposite story of racing at Hexham. This is very much a Northerner’s racecourse. The leaders among trainers and riders hail from the North exclusively, the only southern interloper being Harry Derham, courtesy of a 50% strike rate from 4 runners.

Whilst you can expect to see Skelton runners here in their ambitious pursuit of Martin Pipe’s seasonal record, this is unashamedly a circuit for handlers from Yorkshire northward.

Nicol fits that mould perfectly, and he has the racing credentials to thrive.

Published by Peter McNeile 25/09/2026