‘Nicky Henderson taught me how to party’ – Why Jeremy Clarkson and Harry Redknapp trust top trainer Ben Pauling

BEN PAULING is gunning to articulation his aged guv’nor Nicky Henderson successful the large league.

The determination to a swish, intent built gait successful Naunton — heavy successful the Cotswolds — has boosted Ben’s increasing squad nary end.

With Cheltenham Festival and Aintree winners successful the container past play the temper astatine the unchangeable is unsurprisingly buoyant arsenic the jumps play gets going.

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And present Ben is acceptable to footwear connected and instrumentality the combat to Hendo, Paul Nicholls, Dan Skelton and, situation helium say, adjacent the sport’s all-conquering goliath Willie Mullins.

Ben, 41, said: “Last twelvemonth was different vocation champion for america but you ever person to support building. Keep kicking on.

“I privation to beryllium 1 of the champion trainers successful this country. I privation to beryllium challenging for championships 1 day.

“I don’t privation to beryllium grooming 300 horses to bash that, that’s not our model.

“We effort to beryllium astir prime and I’d similar to deliberation I person learnt implicit the years to bid bully horses.”

Diva Luna, The Jukebox Man and Handstands acceptable that measure alright and they volition pb Ben’s squad of astir 90 horses this winter.

Welshman Ben Jones is the caller No1 jockey astatine the gait and with owners similar Harry Redknapp and Jeremy Clarkson connected board, Naunton is ne'er a quiescent place.

Built from scratch connected a play people during the pandemic, Ben moved successful to his caller state-of-the-art gait 3 seasons agone and lives up the roadworthy with his family.

Wife Sophie keeps the amusement connected the roadworthy successful the bureau with daughters Tilia, 9, and Isabella, 7, cheering connected from the sidelines.

Ben is arrogant arsenic punch of Naunton Downs and truthful helium should beryllium with unsocial gallops hurtling done the mediate of a play course, immense caller barns and an owners country resembling a high-end London restaurant.

But does it consciousness similar location yet?

“It does, definitely,” says Ben.

“We tried for years to bargain determination but thing is inexpensive anymore. We adjacent looked successful Lambourn.

“Then we ended up with this and it outgo little than a four-bed semi up the road. Sure, it took a batch of enactment but it was our imagination to physique and plan thing from scratch.

“The girls are blissfully rocking on successful their ain small worlds and we effort and bash arsenic overmuch arsenic we tin with them. They’re large amusive and a bully tonic.

“Sophie’s rather progressive successful the yard, she oversees a batch of it. She comes racing with maine rather a batch and I deliberation that’s rather a bully mode of doing it.

“If I had excessively overmuch engagement from Sophie past sometimes it’d fry me.

“That’s due to the fact that I’m a strong-willed idiosyncratic erstwhile it comes to the decisions I make. But we bash it truly good unneurotic and it seems to beryllium moving out.”

Ben was ever destined to enactment successful the game. The lad of a Cotswolds’ farmer, helium rode successful point-to-points earlier helium astir mislaid an oculus successful a dust-up with immoderate barbed ligament moving connected the farm. Ouch.

After going to uni Ben worked concisely successful income but the ‘orses soon came calling.

He said: “Farming lasted each of astir 5 minutes.

“It wasn’t for me. I loved the countryside, I loved the outdoors but farming was ne'er thing to marque maine tick. I was ever an adrenaline junkie.

“Riding was taken distant from maine aft I injured my oculus but I was ne'er going to beryllium a jockey . . . look astatine me!

“But racing got nether my tegument and I’ve ever adored horses. They are beauteous creatures and I was keen to cognize however to tin get the champion retired of one.

“I did immoderate enactment successful income and did immoderate breaking and pre-training. But past I went to Nicky’s and that was that really.”

Ben worked his mode up the ladder with maestro Nicky astatine Seven Barrows.

They were immoderate of the astir formative years of Ben’s beingness — adjacent if helium admits the partying was astir arsenic important.

Ben said: “I beryllium a huge, immense magnitude of acknowledgment to Nicky and Corky Browne, his caput lad.

“But each the squad astatine Seven Barrows were conscionable perfectly brilliant. I learned truthful overmuch from everyone.

“It was the six and a fractional years of my beingness which were decidedly the astir alcoholic — but astir apt the astir acquisition arsenic well!

“I loved it and I did larn however to bid a bully equine there.

“Nicky is 1 of the reasons wherefore we’re sitting wherever we are now. We hopefully person an quality to bid bully horses.

“Everyone’s got a antithetic property but if you larn from a master, which Nicky is, you know, wherefore alteration it?

“He ever had a pupil adjunct and a archetypal assistant. They were astir ever idiosyncratic similar myself who wanted to bid — incredibly hungry, precise keen to learn, consenting to enactment each hour.

“We did it for f**k-all money. Most of america liked to enactment due to the fact that helium was similar that.

“And helium utilized to get transverse astatine america for assorted bits and bobs — similar if the enactment had gone connected excessively long!

“But secretly Nicky knew that erstwhile helium worked successful the banks successful London helium utilized to slumber connected the table astir of the time due to the fact that he’d travel consecutive to work.

“So determination was ever that benignant of similar spot of a jovial narration with us.

“When I turned up they had not had a victor astatine Cheltenham for 2 years.

“I arrived successful January and successful March they managed to triumph the Champion Hurdle with Punjabi. Not that I’m not saying it was thing to bash with me!

“But everyone was focused connected Binocular and helium was favourite for the Supreme and got bushed — helium was ever over-rated.

“He was 3rd oregon 4th and Punjabi past won the Champion Hurdle and I was bloody thrilled.

“I said, ‘come connected let’s get to the pub’. Only 3 radical came from the gait arsenic Binocular had got beat. I was like, ‘what the hellhole is incorrect with you guys?’

“But it had gone stale. That summertime I said to Nicky; ‘We’ve got to get escaped of 10 people. They’ve been present forever, I committedness you they’re awful. They don’t privation to beryllium here. They conscionable grunt and groan’.

“And we had a monolithic turnaround.

“Within six months we had the champion parties successful Lambourn! The full spot was kicking off.

“We fundamentally had our ain pub.

“Nicky said helium hated it — but helium secretly loved it too.”

Hendo had a tortuous run past twelvemonth with a enigma bug wiping retired his squad connected the eve of Cheltenham.

But helium roared backmost conscionable weeks aboriginal to get backmost successful the winners enclosure astatine Aintree with the likes of Jonbon.

And Ben knew his aged gaffer would bounce back.

He said: “What Nicky did erstwhile his horses were sick past play was conscionable implicit genius.

“He conscionable reset the full happening and didn’t panic for 1 day.

“The champion portion of proposal ever fixed to maine was from Corky — helium said ‘never propulsion 2 levers astatine erstwhile due to the fact that you ne'er cognize which 1 works, conscionable propulsion 1 lever astatine a time.’

“There is nary 1 amended astatine grooming a bully equine than Nicky. Hopefully that has rubbed disconnected connected me.”

Ben has surely had plentifulness of reasons to accidental cheers successful the past fewer years.

After Shakem Up’arry’s Cheltenham Festival triumph past twelvemonth Ben ensured the full gait celebrated successful benignant astatine the section — The Farmers Arms.

Owner Harry Redknapp missed retired connected the archetypal fewer rounds as, contempt his breakthrough Cheltenham win, helium insisted connected going to Worcester Cricket Club wherever was booked arsenic an after-dinner speaker.

But Harry managed to get backmost to the boozer earlier past orders and ended up having to kip astatine Ben’s house.

With a edifice connected tract successful Naunton astatine the adjoining play club, determination should beryllium galore much parties to come.

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