Olive Nicholls, 18, has set her sights on coming up triumphant with her horse Thank You Ma’am.
The horse has elicited attention from jump jockey Sir AP McCoy who described Thank You Ma’am, also known as Leroy, as a “grand horse” after riding him.
Thank You Ma’am has been the runner-up in its three most recent races.
In light of this, Ms Nicholls has pledged to her mother, Georgie Nicholls, the horse’s trainer, a first-place finish.
The Nicholls are amongst the most successful mother and daughter teams in British horse racing, managing over 30 horses in training.
Winning the Leading Amateur Jockey 2023 award at The McCoys, Olive Nichols said: “I’ve promised mum for Mother’s Day we’re going to take Leroy to the next level and hopefully he’ll get a taste for winning as he’s got the ability.
“The sky is the limit and our target will be the Cheltenham Festival 2025.”
She maintains that Thank You Ma’am is a crowd favourite with tremendous skill, praising his attitude and social demeanour.
She said: “He is the yard favourite and is the perfect horse for the club as he has buckets of ability and is unbelievably social.
“In fact, he has even been to the pub a couple of times to celebrate winning the locals a huge sum after coming third at 125/1.”
The youngster comes from a family steeped in racing tradition.
Her father, Paul Nicholls, won the 2012 Grand National and is a 14-time Champion jump trainer and continues to hold that title today.
Leroy is scheduled for a Class 1 race at Sandown Park Racecourse this Saturday, weather permitting.
Olive Nicholls said: “The Queen and racing went hand in hand and I would have loved to have ridden for her, sadly it was not to be but it is an ambition of mine to one day put on those famous colours.”
Although he will not be participating in this year’s Cheltenham Festival, Mrs Nicholls feels the horse has a promising chance to compete next year.
Aspiring owners can buy a share in Leroy for £60 a year.
This can be done through the racing club website with membership offering a special Mother’s Day discount using the code Love or Horse.