Nigel's retirement put on hold

Lydia Hislop13 April 2012

Bindaree, surging late winner of last Saturday's Martell Grand National, is likely to have his next run in November's Becher Chase over a short course of the same formidable fences.

But whether Nigel Twiston-Davies will still be training him remains undecided.

The Cotswold handler will consider over the next three weeks whether to reverse his secret decision to retire at the end of the season. Revealing his shock plans for the first time minutes after Bindaree crossed the line at Aintree, he also admitted this second National winner in five years had weakened his resolve.

Weekend celebrations at his local pub the Hollow Bottom - the Guiting Power hostelry he part-owns with Bindaree's owner Raymond Mould and Peter Scudamore, his assistant trainer, former champion National Hunt jockey and now BBC pundit - have done little to clear his mind.

"I'm still not sure. I'm at a crossroads," Twiston-Davies said. "I'm going to enjoy this win and wait until the end of the season to make my decision. If I stay in training, it will be with a scaleddown string of horses and they'd have to be a nice bunch - some good youngsters, as well as the likes of Bindaree and Beau.

"I'm selling the bottom yard whatever. So, if I decide to carry on, it would be with a maximum of 50 horses. If I decided to sell up, everything would go - includingthe pub as there's every chance the present tenant would want to buy it. After 20 years in the game, I'd then do absolutely nothing for a bit. That would be nice."

Should he decide to retire, Twiston-Davies doubts Scudamore would opt to take over his Grange Hill stables - from which horses such as 1998 National hero Earth Summit, 1992 Scottish National victor Captain Dibble and 1993 Cheltenham Festival winner Young Hustler have issued.

"Scu's busy enough," he said. Scudamore added. "If Nigel carries on, I am all too glad to continue being assistant - or rather, business partner," he said. "I'd think about taking over if he stopped, but that would be hard with my media work."

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