Bryony Frost, 29, will always have opportunities at Ditcheat when she returns in the autumn, according to Paul Nicholls, who has backed her plans to ride in France during the summer.
In March, Frost declared that she was considering dividing her time between France and Britain and embarked on a fact-finding mission by riding out for both Louisa Carberry, and Noel George and Amanda Zetterholm, the training team behind the hit show Il Est Francais.
An end-of-season purple patch that saw Frost partner four winners in 11 rides began with a runaway victory aboard Nicholls' Sans Bruit at the Aintree Grand National meeting. This week, riding Ioupy Collonges, Frost was on the scoreboard for the 14-time champion trainer in Perth.
Nicholls believes Frost is still at the top of her game, considering the few outside chances she has had this term. Frost has had many fantastic days in the saddle for the Ditcheat handler, most notably winning the King George and Ryanair Chase aboard Frodon.
“She’s riding well at the moment and I think the public likes her more than some trainers do because she doesn’t seem to get too many rides these days,” said Nicholls. “But she’s still riding as well as ever and rode a nice winner up at Perth and a few last week – she’s going well and she takes the opportunities she’s given with both hands. It’s not for me to decide who rides other people’s horses, but it just strikes me that she does ride well and she doesn’t get that many opportunities.”
Given that the French and English racing calendars operate on different schedules, Frost seems to have a great chance to explore the possibilities on the other side of the English Channel, especially since female riders will be able to compete against men while being given a weight allowance.
Furthermore, Nicholls has endorsed the project because he believes it is a great opportunity to gain more experience.
He added: “I think she’s off to France until October to try to get some experience and opportunities there and then she will come back and she will always slot in with us. She comes and rides out twice a week and there will always be opportunities for her. The girls get an allowance out there (in France) and it could be a good opportunity for her. We’re not going to be busy between May and October, so I said go and enjoy yourself. It will be interesting to see how she gets on. I would say she is going to get out there pretty quickly and give it a good go because ultimately I’m not going to have many for her during the summer, as Harry will ride most of them.”