Who is Olive Nicholls and who is her dad?
OLIVE NICHOLLS, the second youngest daughter of 13-time champion trainer Paul Nicholls, has become the latest member of the family to ride a winner.
The 17-year-old claimed her first victory under rules, when she steered Magic Saint, trained by her father, to victory in the hunter chase at Wincanton on Wednesday, March 1.
Yet, Olive is just getting started. According to proud dad Paul: “She’ll ride Shantou Flyer at Cheltenham” on the weekend.
The teenager had already made a good impression, when she secured the novice rider point-to-point championship last season.
Who is Olive Nicholls?
Olive is the daughter of Paul and Georgie Nicholls.
Growing up in Oxfordshire, Olive lives with her mother Georgie Nicholls, who is a Grade One- winning handler. Olive has declared: “my life has always only been horses”.
Olive had her first pony – Oakley – when she was just two years old.
Her older, half-sister Megan has enjoyed success as a jockey, with over 100 winners to her name, before giving up her reins to present on ITV racing.
Olive, who is also busy studying in a BTEC Business course, told the Racing Post: “I’m very lucky to be in the position I am in, but of course, it does bring quite a lot of extra ties having the surname that I do”.
The teenager also has a passion for other equestrian disciplines, including eventing, competing up to intermediate and two-star level.
Who is her dad Paul?
Paul Nicholls OBE, 60, won 119 races as a jump jockey during the 1980s. In 1991, he took out his trainer’s licence, starting with just eight horses at Ditcheat, Somerset.
After ending his first season with 10 first-place horses, Paul has gone on to train over 3,500 winners.
He has accumulated four Cheltenham Gold Cups, the Grand National, and a record 13 wins in the King George VI Chase along the way.
For his accomplishments, Paul was awarded an OBE in the New Year’s Honours list in 2020. That followed a lengthy visit to the yard by the late Queen, who spent time meeting his family.
Speaking on Olive’s win on Wednesday, Paul admitted that watching his daughter race makes him nervous, but “she has lots of experience”.
Alongside his three daughters, Nicholls has recently welcomed a baby boy in December 2022, with his girlfriend Poppy.
How many races has she ridden?
In December 2021, Olive had her debut ride over fences.
Since then, she has ridden seven times under rules, with one win, and two second-place finishes.