# Frenchie Nicholson

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{{short description|Jockey and trainer}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
'''Herbert Charles Denton "Frenchie" Nicholson''' (1913 - 1984) was a [horse racing](/source/horse_racing) jockey and trainer.

Nicholson was born in France in 1913, where his father was a huntsman.{{sfn|Wright|1986|p=198}}

Nicholson acquired his nickname after having been apprenticed in the French city of [Chantilly](/source/Chantilly%2C_Oise) to Charles Clout, moving to Stanley Wooton's stable in [Epsom](/source/Epsom) to continue his training. He was broad and strong, and too heavy to be a [flat](/source/flat_racing) jockey, so he became a jump jockey instead. He had a major success early on in his career, winning the 1936 [Champion Hurdle](/source/Champion_Hurdle) on [Victor Norman](/source/Victor_Norman_(horse)). He won the 1942 [Cheltenham Gold Cup](/source/Cheltenham_Gold_Cup) on [Medoc II](/source/Medoc_II) before the race was suspended for the remainder of the 2nd World War. Nicholson also rode the renowned Irish racehorse, [Golden Miller](/source/Golden_Miller).<ref name=Guardian060905/> In 1946-47 he shared the [Jockeys' Championship](/source/British_jump_racing_Champion_Jockey) with [Fred Rimell](/source/Fred_Rimell).<ref name=JockeypediaBiog/>

Following the war he worked as a trainer in [Cheltenham](/source/Cheltenham) and was prominent in the training of jockeys both for steeplechase and flat racing. He trained, amongst others, [Pat Eddery](/source/Pat_Eddery), [Walter Swinburn](/source/Walter_Swinburn), [Mouse Morris](/source/Mouse_Morris), [Brough Scott](/source/Brough_Scott) and [Paul Cook](/source/Paul_Cook_(jockey)) at his [Prestbury](/source/Prestbury%2C_Gloucestershire) stables.{{sfn|Oakley|2014|pp=52-}}
Nicholson's strengths included knowing when to praise a jockey and when to chastise him. Former apprentice, [Paul Cook](/source/Paul_Cook_(jockey)) said, "When you rode a few winners, he would quickly put you back in your place. He once pinned me up against a wall and told me that I knew damn all. He said that he himself was still learning."<ref name=JockeypediaCook/>

He retired in 1979 due to ill health{{sfn|Wright|1986|p=198}} and died in 1984.
 
==Personal life==
He married Diana, a trainer's daughter and great-granddaughter of three times [Grand National](/source/Grand_National) winning trainer [William Holman](/source/William_Holman). Nicholson's son, [David](/source/David_Nicholson_(horse_racing)) was also a jockey and trainer.<ref name=Guardian060905/>

==References==
{{Reflist|refs=

<ref name=Guardian060905>
{{cite news | url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/2006/sep/05/guardianobituaries.horseracing | title=Obituary: David Nicholson | last=Fanshawe | first=James | author-link=James Fanshawe | work=The Guardian |accessdate=13 March 2015}}
</ref>

<ref name=JockeypediaCook>
{{cite web |publisher=Jockeypedia |title=Paul Cook |url=https://sites.google.com/view/jockeys-p/paul_cook |accessdate=21 October 2023}}
</ref>

<ref name=JockeypediaBiog>
{{cite web | url=https://sites.google.com/site/jockeypedia/nicholson-frenchie | title=Nicholson, Frenchie | accessdate=13 March 2015}}
</ref>
}}

==Bibliography==
* {{cite book|first=Robin |last=Oakley|title=The Cheltenham Festival: A Centenary History|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Jav0AgAAQBAJ&pg=PT52|date=3 March 2014|publisher=Aurum Press Limited|isbn=978-1-78131-390-9|pages=52–}}
* {{cite book |title=The Encyclopaedia of Flat Racing |last1=Wright |first1=Howard |year=1986 |publisher=Robert Hale |location=London |isbn=0-7090-2639-0}} <!-- Wright 1986 Encyclopedia -->

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nicholson, Frenchie}}
Category:English jockeys
Category:British racehorse trainers
Category:English expatriates in France

{{UK-equestrian-bio-stub}}

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Frenchie Nicholson](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frenchie_Nicholson) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frenchie_Nicholson?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.