Nicholls has Abbaye designs for Tees Spirit

Four-year-old is proving a real flag-bearer for Adrian Nicholls.

Paris is calling for connections of Tees Spirit, with a tilt at the Prix de l’Abbaye lined up for Adrian Nicholls’ progressive sprinter following his victory in the Abergwaun Stakes.

The four-year-old was running in a Pattern race for the first time when shading the verdict of a tight finish in the Tipperary Listed event and took his tally to five for the season, which includes a memorable success in the Epsom Dash on Derby Day.

Nicholls, who was winning just his second Listed race as a trainer, won the Abergwaun Stakes three times as a rider and is now targeting a race that eluded him during his time in the saddle, with Tees Spirit likely to make the leap into Group One company at ParisLongchamp on October 2.

“It was a great result for us, it was my second Listed winner as a trainer,” said Nicholls.

“I had the race marked out for a bit and with the ground being as it is, it really suited him. It was either Ireland or the Beverley Bullet and I know he’s won at Beverley in a lower grade, but I just thought the track and everything at Tipperary would suit him.

“I was lucky enough to win the race three times when I was riding so I knew a bit about the race and luckily it all went to plan. We were lucky on the day with the nod of the heads, but it was brilliant really looking at where he has started from.”

On future plans he added: “He’s in the Abbaye so we may take our chance in that. We could go somewhere before, but it might come a little bit quickly.

“He’s in the Prix Couvert (ParisLongchamp, September 11) in France, the Abbaye trial, but it might come round a little quick.

“He’s a horse that I know is better fresh and his last two runs have come pretty quickly, so it might be a good idea to freshen him up and go straight to the Abbaye.”

It would be no mean feat if Nicholls is to replicate his father Dandy Nicholls, who trained Continent to win the Arc day sprint in 2002. However, the Yorkshire handler is willing to roll the dice for Tees Spirit’s final outing of the season and he believes the son of Swiss Spirt will be campaigning in all of the recognised sprinting contests in 2023.

“The track will definitely suit,” he continued. “The ground will be a bit of an unknown because lets be honest who knows what the ground is going to be.

“Usually it is mostly soft and he’s won with cut in the ground in the past. Whether he’ll be as effective on real soft ground is an unknown, but it will be his last run of the season, so we’ll give it a try and if he doesn’t like it he doesn’t like it.

“Next year I think he’s going to be a force to be reckoned with and he’s progressing nicely all the time. He’s mixed it with the best handicappers in the Dash and he’s mixed it with some of the best in Ireland as well so he’s clearly progressing.

“I would say he’s going to be very high in the handicap now, so I would think he’ll start somewhere like the Palace House and all of those sort of races come to mind for him.”

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