Racing: Twiston-Davies spruced up and on Aintree trail again

A strange man yesterday came out of the main house at Grange Hill Farm, high above the Cotswolds village of Naunton, and introduced himself to us as Nigel Twiston-Davies.

This obvious doppelgänger looked healthy, smart and made the mistake of addressing the press pack in the first place. He was easy to tell from the real thing because there was no Paddington bear dufflecoat, no allergic reaction to questioning.

Yet, I have now come to accept, this is in fact the same Nigel Twiston-Davies, a man unrecognisable from the day last April when he won the Grand National with Bindaree.

The difference is Peter Scudamore, who is no longer around. While Scu was assistant trainer he was the voicepiece of the partnership, the Harry Corbett to Twiston's Sooty. Now he has gone and left Nigel with the drumsticks to do the banging.

"We weren't making any money here," Twiston said. "This place wasn't big enough to have two families living off it so the easiest thing was to rejig the whole thing. I had to buy Peter out. Present owners bought some new horses and the whole thing became viable again.

"It's all sorted out and going well now. The whole thing is making money and that's what it's all about. But [overall] I'm even more short of money now than I was before. I've got a bigger debt than Argentina."

Scudamore himself has no such financial worries. He is carrying out a similar role over the border, back to his roots in Herefordshire, with Dennis Caro. "After Bindaree, Nigel decided he wanted to buy me out of the business," Scu confirmed. "I didn't mind because that gave me the opportunity to set myself up for life. I took that opportunity. There was never any falling out as such."

Scudamore took 15 of the Grange Hill Farm horses with him and left Twiston-Davies with a breach he has yet to fill. The trainer is down to 50 from the 80 of last year and has room for 98. However, the melancholia that for so long coloured his character seems to have gone.

It could all have been so different. Nigel Twiston-Davies was under 10 minutes from retirement when Bindaree set off in this year's Grand National. Even after the eight-year-old's victory his mind was temporarily in a jumble. But Aintree success showed Twiston how many supporters he had in the sport.

"The decision had been made. I was giving up. I'd already told some of the owners," he said yesterday. "That was why I was quite so miserable when I should have been happy after the National. But Bindaree changed everything. If he had been second I would have given up."

So these days we have a new-look Nigel. The old one, not the most kempt of figures, has been replaced by catalogue man. The trainer sported a blue shirt with pastel tie, a quilted jacket and grey, pinstripe trousers yesterday. Only the grubby brogues informed us he is not quite fully out of the chrysalis stage.

And while Twiston does not yet bounce on to the gallops with a straw hat and cane, at least the days when you had to involve Mossad to get a response out of him appear to have gone. The trainer even offered us "horses for your notebook" yesterday, in this case the French-bred Gazump, due to make his debut soon, and Lewis Island, who is expected to come on considerably for his Cheltenham debut last Saturday.

Scrambling up the uphill, half-mile stretch of Fibresand on which the Twiston training technique is based were other, more celebrated names, most notably the chestnut with a considerable white blaze who these days is allowed pole position up the Naunton gallops.

Bindaree is back in Liverpool on Sunday, when he contests the Becher Chase. It is anticipated the huge fences will awaken an interest which seemed dormant when he reappeared over hurdles at Wetherby this month. He was last of seven.

"I thought he would be competitive, but he's a crafty old soul," Twiston said. "He needs big fences and long distances. That's what he's good at. He's better than he was this time last year and that's because he has matured with the win. He used to be a spooky old horse."

After Aintree, the programme is to go for the Welsh National at Chepstow, Haydock's De Vere Gold Cup and then the National. Carl Llewellyn, who rode Beau on Merseyside, takes over from Jim Culloty.

That series of races gives Twiston-Davies the possibility of considerably reducing his mortgage, especially as it was announced yesterday that prize-money for the big race would be up £100,000 to £600,000 (the first £1m National is expected by 2007).

Back on the gallops, there was a disturbing noise. Over the rise, sounding like a steam engine and travelling at roughly the same velocity, came Earth Summit. The yard's 1998 National winner is now rising 15, and fills his time chasing foxy with the Cotswolds Hunt. "Bindaree is very similar to Earth Summit," their trainer said with a misty breath. "They've got near identical characters."

There remains, however, save a few tweaks to his wardrobe and bedside manner, just one Nigel Twiston-Davies.