Based at Blowing Stone Stables in Kingston Lisle, near Wantage, Oxfordshire, Georgina ‘Georgie’ Nicholls, née Brown, is the ex-wife of 13-time champion National Hunt trainer Paul Nicholls. On July 21, 2023, she made headlines when her two-year-old filly Betties Bay, who had previously finished unplaced in the Group 2 Queen Mary Stakes at Royal Ascot, won a maiden fillies’ stakes race at Newbury. In so doing, the daughter of Cable Bay not only became only her second ever winner on the Flat, but also her first for the better part of two decades. She told the ‘Racing Post, ‘That’s a game changer, it’s huge, and to have a horse of her quality in my care is a real treat.’
In fact, the Newbury race took place 19 years, bar one day, since Nicholls saddled another two-year-old filly, Tight Circle, to win a median auction median stakes race at Bath on July 22, 2004. On that occasion, Tight Circle sprang a 16/1 surprise, making all under Franny Norton to beat the odds-on favourite, Goodwood Spirit, trained by the late John Dunlop, by 1½ lengths. Later that year, Nicholls also saddled Phar Bleu to win the Grade 1 Finale Juvenile Hurdle at Chepstow, under Tony McCoy, but subsequently put her own training career on hold when she met her ex-husband.
Reflecting on her early days in the training ranks, Nicholls said, ‘I was 23 when I took out my full licence, but then I met Paul and moved down to Ditcheat. I’d like to think I wasn’t clueless before I met Paul, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t pick up an awful lot.’ In any event, Paul and Georgina Nicholls split in December, 2016 and, after training occasional runners in hunter chases under permit, and pre-training, Georgina took out a full licence again in June, 2023.