Paul Nicholls supplements Tutti Quanti for Unibet Champion Hurdle after promising work

Racing Post said Paul Nicholls confirmed Tutti Quanti has been supplemented for the Unibet Champion Hurdle, but the trainer’s own comments to Racing TV and Betfair on March 4 make clear the decision hinges on Cheltenham’s going. Nicholls stressed he can lodge a supplement up to five or six days before the race and wants to see whether the track will be testing before committing the six-year-old.

Tutti Quanti arrives at Cheltenham off a string of eye-catching results this season. The six-year-old won the Gerry Feilden in November and then "followed up off an 8lb higher mark back at Newbury last weekend, ploughing through the mud to win with his head in his chest," a line carried in syndicated Betfair coverage. That Newbury display has pushed his rating to 151, "having gone up 13lb," placing him within range of the principal Champion Hurdle contenders on paper.

Nicholls underlined the ground as the decisive factor in an interview on Racing TV’s Nick On Sunday programme. "There are so many questions to answer on the race (Champion Hurdle) and around the horses not going. The great thing about supplementing him if we wanted to, we don't have to do that until six days before and we can get a good idea of what the ground is going to be like," he said. On suitability he added, "Two miles on good ground around Cheltenham would be too sharp for him but if it was testing ground you'd definitely have to consider it based on the way he's going forward."

The trainer also reflected on the manner of the Newbury victory, describing a horse that quickened late and stayed on strongly. "The ideal was to go a fair gallop, he obviously can go a real good end-to-end gallop and keep galloping. Turning in I was wondering what we'd got left and off the home bend he just quickened up and the race was over in a matter of strides. And he galloped all the way to the line so it was a top-class performance. I don't know where the ceiling is but we'll know soon," Nicholls told Sporting Life.

Betfair-syndicated outlets carried complementary comments on the ratings and the yard’s plan. "Regarding Tutti Quanti we’re going to really consider the Champion Hurdle if it keeps on raining and the ground is on the slow side," Nicholls said, adding that "He’s now rated 151 so he’s in range of some of the horses in the race and obviously handicaps aren’t going to be easy for him having gone up 13lb." He reiterated the timing: "We don’t have to supplement him until five or six days before the race, so if the ground’s right and he’s right then we’ll be having a go."

Tutti Quanti was pictured in control under Harry Cobden in syndication, with one photo credit reading "(Steven Paston/PA)." With Cheltenham’s weather forecast likely to dictate the yard’s final call, Nicholls has left the door open but set a clear timeline: a final decision will come in the roughly five to six days before the Champion Hurdle, and only testing ground will make the entry decisive.