A few more recent Henderson chase stats here http://www.narrowing-the-field.co.uk/cheltenham-festival-countdown-is-on/
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Nicky Henderson Stable Tour
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Old Vic
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For live tweets from the Henderson Cheltenham stable tour
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We should have a full report tonight from race news service.
https://twitter.com/BillEsdaile
We should have a full report tonight from race news service.
Old Vic
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Nicky Henderson
Altior and Buveur d'Air
I don't have to choose between them and wouldn't want to. I think these two are pretty useful novices and it would be a great way to start the week. They've both got big futures in front of them but this is their first big day in the sunshine. I think the world of them both but if Min is the next Douvan, we've got plenty to think about but they are talented. They'll both run [in the Sky Bet Supreme Novices' Hurdle] and they're both in very, very good form; couldn't be better.
Altior has had that little bit more experience than Buveur d'Air has. Altior was very good at Kempton, he's got bags of pace, buckets of it, wants a good strong gallop and Buveur d'Air much the same. Altior can pull a bit so he wants a good gallop. Buveur d'Air we wanted to go to Exeter but we turned him around in the horsebox on his way there because of the ground. They both came out of the Newbury bumper won by Barters Hill in very soft ground. I thought Altior was a very good horse then but I think he is a very good horse now, I think they both are and I'm going to leave them exactly where they are and we'll find out hopefully on a Tuesday up a hill [which is better].
The Sky Bet Supreme Novices' Hurdle is the real race that we want to win; a) because we can but we've only seen Min on the television; they told us Douvan would win last year and they were right and they told us Vautour would win the year before and they were right and they've probably got it right again.
We need to win this race again; we've had so many seconds and thirds in it the last few years and they've all turned out to be good horses; My Tent Or Yours Binocular, Sprinter Sacre.
They're two smashing horses and both will jump fences both have done nothing wrong. We tossed up to see if we could move one of them to the Neptune and the answer is you couldn't.
Bloody Mary, Chocca Wocca and Robin's Reef
Chocca Wocca won yesterday and she's got a long way to go - she pulled awful hard yesterday - but she might easily go [for the Trull House Stud Mares' Novices' Hurdle] because she's owned by the sponsors. They also have half of Robins Reef who will definitely go there and the other one would be Bloody Mary.
I love Robins Reef but actually they're three lovely fillies. You wouldn't believe Bloody Mary if you see her, she's tiny, really tiny but AP [Sir Anthony McCoy] schooled her and Barry [Geraghty] schooled her and they say when you get on her it's amazing what's underneath you. She was great at Taunton, she won five or six AQPS flat races in France but they were on racecourses nobody has every heard of; they were worth 1200 euros and I don't think they were very smart but she's great. She was bought by Charlie Swan for JP [McManus].
Bobs Worth
You can never rule Bob's out, he's in great shape, very very good. It might be dreaming a bit but it's a little like getting My Tent back and Sprinter Sacre back and if Bob were to join in too it would bring the house down. He's enjoyed coming back to hurdles, he's in good form and he loves Cheltenham and he loves the Festival so why not....
Broxbourne and Cup Final
They will both go to the Pertemps.
Clean Sheet
He'll go for one of the handicaps. It was a total mess [at Cheltenham last time], he got stopped six times coming down the hill, I don't know what was happening I really don't. He's not a two miler anyway. If he could get into the Coral then great or the Martin Pipe.
Consul De Thaix
If he's going to win anything this year, I'd rather he won a Triumph than a maiden at Warwick. He ran a very good race at Cheltenham on Festival Trials Day on his first run; he's a very useful person and could easily run.
Different Gravey
I haven't ruled the World Hurdle out, it won't be the Champion Hurdle, but we'd have to supplement. I haven't ruled the Coral Cup out yet because we haven't seen what weight he'll get. I wouldn't stick him in the County, he'll be in the Coral because that was the objective. If we do supplement for the World Hurdle, it will cost £15,000. We don't have to decide anything until five days before, which is sensible and it gives us time to decide if we're going to splash the cash.
Hargam and Top Notch
Both look in good shape; lots of work done. Top Notch was great I thought at Kelso, you don't want to read too much into it but it was a perfect preparation and everything's cool; he'll handle any ground. I've always said him and Hargam if you had good ground I think Hargam might come out better but Top Notch would in very soft ground and they're both in good shape. Hargam had a gallop with Tent at Kempton the other day which was great and he and Tent are going to go together the whole way through and they will be going somewhere this weekend. Hargam and Top Notch are really good and I love Hargam while Top Notch is as tough as you get but in each owner's camp, they might just be their second string but they wouldn't be that far behind, they might be the back-up boys but they're not there to make up the numbers even for the owners, I think they're okay.
Fixe Le Kap
It was a bit of a messy race on Saturday to be honest, it's very easy to say put a line through it but I really would. I would like him to run; that bore as much relation to the Triumph Hurdle up the hill at Cheltenham as......
Josses Hill
I loved it [his last run]. His jumping went from questionable to actually looking pretty solid and if he can put that together again then I'd be quite keen. The proviso would be that I suspect he'd be a little bit better right handed than left but Cheltenham is the obvious place to go.
Khezerabad
He will go to Kempton on Saturday and from what I can gather there are plenty of horses lurking around the country who will make their debuts in the Adonis on Saturday and one will come out of it as a Triumph Hurdle horse. He's totally a good ground horse, he's got a great action on him and there was no question of him running on the ground we've been having so he's just been marking time. He will run and probably need it to.
Kilcrea Vale
He'll run in the County Hurdle
L'Ami Serge
Very, very little came to light after Warwick but if he does what he usually does at home he'll go well. I was watching on the screen at Newbury and I could honestly tell you jumping the second fence it wasn't going right. The way he jumped two days before and you won't see anything like it, he was in Sprinter Sacre's league and then nothing happened at all at Warwick. The only thing we can do is take Warwick out of our minds and pretend it didn't happen; it's not a very satisfactory way to go into it but you've got to have a go unless he tells us something different.
Lough Kent
He'll run in the Grand Annual and is our only one for the race.
Ma Filleule
That ground at Ascot didn't do her any good. If the handicapper drops her significantly she could run in a handicap which she probably ought to be doing. She's going to stud and we did talk about the Topham if she had a chance but she's such a valuable broodmare. If the ground came better she'll run in a handicap or the Ryanair Chase.
My Tent Or Yours
He missed the Kingwell Hurdle because of the ground; we thought about it but it was going to be detrimental. We've laughed about the bounce factor and things but we've eliminated that by not running him. It's a hell of a shot trying to come into any race after a lay-off but two years without a run and into the Champion Hurdle is massive but we're realists and we're going to have a go. He's tough and he's hardy and Kempton was ideal; it went really well.
Omessa Has
She could also go for the Triumph. She's not very big but bigger than Bloody Mary. She's a nice filly.
O O Seven
He stepped up from two miles in the Tolworth to three miles at Musselburgh just to see really and he did that well. He stayed three miles but three miles at Cheltenham is a different ball game; I think he'd want to do that next year but two and a half will be fine for this season but the Neptune looks a tough race, Yanworth is one of the horses that stands out for me in all these races. It might be hard but he's a good prospect.
Peace And Co
He has had a little cauterized palate. He's good, he's over that, he's cantering away. He had four days box rest and four days walking and now he started to be ridden again on Saturday and cantered today and My Tent Or Yours hasn't had a run. We know where we are with them; they're not coming in off ideal preparations but we can get them there. Peace And Co definitely made a noise at Sandown which we haven't experienced before. Sandown was really rather like his first run in a year because nothing happened at Cheltenham except he ran like a headless chicken for a mile and that was the end of it. He won't do that again. He was much better at Sandown but his back was sore, he had his head up a little bit but with a bit of luck we've ironed things out.
Polly Peachum
She's great, she worked great on Saturday. This will probably be her last run. She will run [in the OLBG.com Mares' Hurdle]. These mares' races are getting competitive now which is great, that's what they were designed to do. There's a good crop of mares wherever you go this year. She's in really good form, the better the ground, the better she'll go but the Annie Power situation is interesting but Vroum Vroum Mag looks frightening.
Protek Des Flos
I was trying to just get experience into him at Sandown the other day and that was fine, he did what he had to do. He surprised us a bit at Cheltenham and I think he needs to learn an awful lot more yet and I think Noel [Fehily] felt the same; Jared [Sullivan] and Chris Giles have got other options for the race as well.
Sign Of A Victory
He has to have very good ground. He's in good form but he needs it very good but where else do you go with him? He's too high to run in the County Hurdle and he's in no man's land - I seem to have dozens of them - he can't run in a handicap and you're 10lbs shy of a Grade One.
Sprinter Sacre
He is at his best of this year, he's in great form, we are really happy where he is. Timing's good, he's fresh and well and he's feisty and tanking at the moment; I like him at the moment. His gallop on Saturday was great and I'm not sure he needs to go to Kempton on Tuesday (for a gallop). He was so good at Cheltenham the first time - we did have him very ready, we couldn't afford to be anything but we had to be ready for that day - but there's lots of improvement to come from that run. It was great, Nico probably felt that he was fresher and better at Cheltenham than he was at Kempton and I don't think there's any doubt. He'd be a sharper horse than at Cheltenham the first time and I think he'll be a better horse than at Kempton and I think he likes Cheltenham better than Kempton; I'm sure of that.
He's nicely aggressive at the moment, he wants to do it, his attitude is good. It's difficult to quantify, when he and Simonsig were at their best at that time nothing else could work with them, they were in a totally different niche above everything else. You can never be confident but I'd be hopeful.
His confidence is so much higher (than last year); we're able to get there on our own terms this year and on his terms.
The last thing I said to Nico [before the Shloer] was 'if he wants to take you, let him' and that's exactly what happened. When he went up that hill suddenly, like he used to, he took off and the race was dead in 10 strides and it didn't matter what he was going past. He did that again and, yes, he got a bit tired at the end but that's where we can find that little bit more. If he wants to take you, don't ever say no and that's what came back; that great surge, that's what we want.
Somebody, someday has got to get upsides Un De Sceaux and see what happens. Somebody has got to get to him and I hope that's us.
Vaniteux
He's been learning all the time and probably needs to keep learning too but he's been good. I think his best performance was the only time he's been beaten. He does like good ground, that will be very important to him but Douvan is going to be very hard to beat.
Vyta Du Roc
The ground will probably dictate which way he goes. If it came up good you might say he'd be better going for the National Hunt Chase but otherwise he'd stick to the RSA Chase. His season took off about three weeks ago, suddenly he sharpened up a lot and he looks magnificent. He didn't look great the first time at Bangor over two miles and he won well but then he got beaten at Doncaster making all his running but he came to life about three weeks ago. He probably should have finished second in the Neptune last year and hopefully he's going to be quite near the top of the pile; he's left it a bit late but he's put himself in the squad for one of them. I'd say RSA but we'll see what happens.
Whisper
Last year he struggled all winter and we had to use Cheltenham as a launchpad to Aintree but I would like to think he's coming in to Cheltenham as he was Aintree last year....possibly. He's in good shape. I'd be quite keen on Whisper, I think he's in very good shape at the moment. If all goes well from now on, he's got his chance anyway.
Altior and Buveur d'Air
I don't have to choose between them and wouldn't want to. I think these two are pretty useful novices and it would be a great way to start the week. They've both got big futures in front of them but this is their first big day in the sunshine. I think the world of them both but if Min is the next Douvan, we've got plenty to think about but they are talented. They'll both run [in the Sky Bet Supreme Novices' Hurdle] and they're both in very, very good form; couldn't be better.
Altior has had that little bit more experience than Buveur d'Air has. Altior was very good at Kempton, he's got bags of pace, buckets of it, wants a good strong gallop and Buveur d'Air much the same. Altior can pull a bit so he wants a good gallop. Buveur d'Air we wanted to go to Exeter but we turned him around in the horsebox on his way there because of the ground. They both came out of the Newbury bumper won by Barters Hill in very soft ground. I thought Altior was a very good horse then but I think he is a very good horse now, I think they both are and I'm going to leave them exactly where they are and we'll find out hopefully on a Tuesday up a hill [which is better].
The Sky Bet Supreme Novices' Hurdle is the real race that we want to win; a) because we can but we've only seen Min on the television; they told us Douvan would win last year and they were right and they told us Vautour would win the year before and they were right and they've probably got it right again.
We need to win this race again; we've had so many seconds and thirds in it the last few years and they've all turned out to be good horses; My Tent Or Yours Binocular, Sprinter Sacre.
They're two smashing horses and both will jump fences both have done nothing wrong. We tossed up to see if we could move one of them to the Neptune and the answer is you couldn't.
Bloody Mary, Chocca Wocca and Robin's Reef
Chocca Wocca won yesterday and she's got a long way to go - she pulled awful hard yesterday - but she might easily go [for the Trull House Stud Mares' Novices' Hurdle] because she's owned by the sponsors. They also have half of Robins Reef who will definitely go there and the other one would be Bloody Mary.
I love Robins Reef but actually they're three lovely fillies. You wouldn't believe Bloody Mary if you see her, she's tiny, really tiny but AP [Sir Anthony McCoy] schooled her and Barry [Geraghty] schooled her and they say when you get on her it's amazing what's underneath you. She was great at Taunton, she won five or six AQPS flat races in France but they were on racecourses nobody has every heard of; they were worth 1200 euros and I don't think they were very smart but she's great. She was bought by Charlie Swan for JP [McManus].
Bobs Worth
You can never rule Bob's out, he's in great shape, very very good. It might be dreaming a bit but it's a little like getting My Tent back and Sprinter Sacre back and if Bob were to join in too it would bring the house down. He's enjoyed coming back to hurdles, he's in good form and he loves Cheltenham and he loves the Festival so why not....
Broxbourne and Cup Final
They will both go to the Pertemps.
Clean Sheet
He'll go for one of the handicaps. It was a total mess [at Cheltenham last time], he got stopped six times coming down the hill, I don't know what was happening I really don't. He's not a two miler anyway. If he could get into the Coral then great or the Martin Pipe.
Consul De Thaix
If he's going to win anything this year, I'd rather he won a Triumph than a maiden at Warwick. He ran a very good race at Cheltenham on Festival Trials Day on his first run; he's a very useful person and could easily run.
Different Gravey
I haven't ruled the World Hurdle out, it won't be the Champion Hurdle, but we'd have to supplement. I haven't ruled the Coral Cup out yet because we haven't seen what weight he'll get. I wouldn't stick him in the County, he'll be in the Coral because that was the objective. If we do supplement for the World Hurdle, it will cost £15,000. We don't have to decide anything until five days before, which is sensible and it gives us time to decide if we're going to splash the cash.
Hargam and Top Notch
Both look in good shape; lots of work done. Top Notch was great I thought at Kelso, you don't want to read too much into it but it was a perfect preparation and everything's cool; he'll handle any ground. I've always said him and Hargam if you had good ground I think Hargam might come out better but Top Notch would in very soft ground and they're both in good shape. Hargam had a gallop with Tent at Kempton the other day which was great and he and Tent are going to go together the whole way through and they will be going somewhere this weekend. Hargam and Top Notch are really good and I love Hargam while Top Notch is as tough as you get but in each owner's camp, they might just be their second string but they wouldn't be that far behind, they might be the back-up boys but they're not there to make up the numbers even for the owners, I think they're okay.
Fixe Le Kap
It was a bit of a messy race on Saturday to be honest, it's very easy to say put a line through it but I really would. I would like him to run; that bore as much relation to the Triumph Hurdle up the hill at Cheltenham as......
Josses Hill
I loved it [his last run]. His jumping went from questionable to actually looking pretty solid and if he can put that together again then I'd be quite keen. The proviso would be that I suspect he'd be a little bit better right handed than left but Cheltenham is the obvious place to go.
Khezerabad
He will go to Kempton on Saturday and from what I can gather there are plenty of horses lurking around the country who will make their debuts in the Adonis on Saturday and one will come out of it as a Triumph Hurdle horse. He's totally a good ground horse, he's got a great action on him and there was no question of him running on the ground we've been having so he's just been marking time. He will run and probably need it to.
Kilcrea Vale
He'll run in the County Hurdle
L'Ami Serge
Very, very little came to light after Warwick but if he does what he usually does at home he'll go well. I was watching on the screen at Newbury and I could honestly tell you jumping the second fence it wasn't going right. The way he jumped two days before and you won't see anything like it, he was in Sprinter Sacre's league and then nothing happened at all at Warwick. The only thing we can do is take Warwick out of our minds and pretend it didn't happen; it's not a very satisfactory way to go into it but you've got to have a go unless he tells us something different.
Lough Kent
He'll run in the Grand Annual and is our only one for the race.
Ma Filleule
That ground at Ascot didn't do her any good. If the handicapper drops her significantly she could run in a handicap which she probably ought to be doing. She's going to stud and we did talk about the Topham if she had a chance but she's such a valuable broodmare. If the ground came better she'll run in a handicap or the Ryanair Chase.
My Tent Or Yours
He missed the Kingwell Hurdle because of the ground; we thought about it but it was going to be detrimental. We've laughed about the bounce factor and things but we've eliminated that by not running him. It's a hell of a shot trying to come into any race after a lay-off but two years without a run and into the Champion Hurdle is massive but we're realists and we're going to have a go. He's tough and he's hardy and Kempton was ideal; it went really well.
Omessa Has
She could also go for the Triumph. She's not very big but bigger than Bloody Mary. She's a nice filly.
O O Seven
He stepped up from two miles in the Tolworth to three miles at Musselburgh just to see really and he did that well. He stayed three miles but three miles at Cheltenham is a different ball game; I think he'd want to do that next year but two and a half will be fine for this season but the Neptune looks a tough race, Yanworth is one of the horses that stands out for me in all these races. It might be hard but he's a good prospect.
Peace And Co
He has had a little cauterized palate. He's good, he's over that, he's cantering away. He had four days box rest and four days walking and now he started to be ridden again on Saturday and cantered today and My Tent Or Yours hasn't had a run. We know where we are with them; they're not coming in off ideal preparations but we can get them there. Peace And Co definitely made a noise at Sandown which we haven't experienced before. Sandown was really rather like his first run in a year because nothing happened at Cheltenham except he ran like a headless chicken for a mile and that was the end of it. He won't do that again. He was much better at Sandown but his back was sore, he had his head up a little bit but with a bit of luck we've ironed things out.
Polly Peachum
She's great, she worked great on Saturday. This will probably be her last run. She will run [in the OLBG.com Mares' Hurdle]. These mares' races are getting competitive now which is great, that's what they were designed to do. There's a good crop of mares wherever you go this year. She's in really good form, the better the ground, the better she'll go but the Annie Power situation is interesting but Vroum Vroum Mag looks frightening.
Protek Des Flos
I was trying to just get experience into him at Sandown the other day and that was fine, he did what he had to do. He surprised us a bit at Cheltenham and I think he needs to learn an awful lot more yet and I think Noel [Fehily] felt the same; Jared [Sullivan] and Chris Giles have got other options for the race as well.
Sign Of A Victory
He has to have very good ground. He's in good form but he needs it very good but where else do you go with him? He's too high to run in the County Hurdle and he's in no man's land - I seem to have dozens of them - he can't run in a handicap and you're 10lbs shy of a Grade One.
Sprinter Sacre
He is at his best of this year, he's in great form, we are really happy where he is. Timing's good, he's fresh and well and he's feisty and tanking at the moment; I like him at the moment. His gallop on Saturday was great and I'm not sure he needs to go to Kempton on Tuesday (for a gallop). He was so good at Cheltenham the first time - we did have him very ready, we couldn't afford to be anything but we had to be ready for that day - but there's lots of improvement to come from that run. It was great, Nico probably felt that he was fresher and better at Cheltenham than he was at Kempton and I don't think there's any doubt. He'd be a sharper horse than at Cheltenham the first time and I think he'll be a better horse than at Kempton and I think he likes Cheltenham better than Kempton; I'm sure of that.
He's nicely aggressive at the moment, he wants to do it, his attitude is good. It's difficult to quantify, when he and Simonsig were at their best at that time nothing else could work with them, they were in a totally different niche above everything else. You can never be confident but I'd be hopeful.
His confidence is so much higher (than last year); we're able to get there on our own terms this year and on his terms.
The last thing I said to Nico [before the Shloer] was 'if he wants to take you, let him' and that's exactly what happened. When he went up that hill suddenly, like he used to, he took off and the race was dead in 10 strides and it didn't matter what he was going past. He did that again and, yes, he got a bit tired at the end but that's where we can find that little bit more. If he wants to take you, don't ever say no and that's what came back; that great surge, that's what we want.
Somebody, someday has got to get upsides Un De Sceaux and see what happens. Somebody has got to get to him and I hope that's us.
Vaniteux
He's been learning all the time and probably needs to keep learning too but he's been good. I think his best performance was the only time he's been beaten. He does like good ground, that will be very important to him but Douvan is going to be very hard to beat.
Vyta Du Roc
The ground will probably dictate which way he goes. If it came up good you might say he'd be better going for the National Hunt Chase but otherwise he'd stick to the RSA Chase. His season took off about three weeks ago, suddenly he sharpened up a lot and he looks magnificent. He didn't look great the first time at Bangor over two miles and he won well but then he got beaten at Doncaster making all his running but he came to life about three weeks ago. He probably should have finished second in the Neptune last year and hopefully he's going to be quite near the top of the pile; he's left it a bit late but he's put himself in the squad for one of them. I'd say RSA but we'll see what happens.
Whisper
Last year he struggled all winter and we had to use Cheltenham as a launchpad to Aintree but I would like to think he's coming in to Cheltenham as he was Aintree last year....possibly. He's in good shape. I'd be quite keen on Whisper, I think he's in very good shape at the moment. If all goes well from now on, he's got his chance anyway.
mayo
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Altior
We're a long way from another Sprinter Sacre but he's creeping up the road. We took the same route as Sprinter did in the Game Spirit and now he's got to come out and win the Arkle. If it happens and he doesn't do something silly there will be comparisons with ratings and the like. You wouldn't believe you could put away one as great as that and replace him with another. And this is a two miles horse and two miles only. It can't have been the wrong thing to do [go over fences this season] as there are that many people trying to convince us to go in the Champion Chase. If he's capable of taking on Douvan we must be thinking we've got something right. This horse could jump with Douvan. A lot of horses can't because a) they aren't fast enough and b) they can't jump quick enough. So far that's what he's been able to do. After Sandown we said we'd stay down this road (novice chasing).
Beyond Conceit
It's between the Sky Bet Supreme and Neptune for him and if it came up very soft I'd definitely be keen to go to the Supreme. On good ground we might go over two-and-a-half. He pulled very hard over that trip at Ascot on Saturday and did well to win. It looked as though stamina won the day there but I wouldn't be sure. Barry rode him the first day at Newbury and said he didn't want any further. He's an older horse and travels well and I'm thinking two miles but we don't know.
Charli Parcs
I don't think he minds anything [ground-wise]. If he gets soft ground on Saturday at Kempton he'll run because he has to and I don't think it will worry him. I'd like to run him in the Triumph I must admit. He's very smart, a proper four-year-old. He's got to go and do it on Saturday. If you go into the Supreme you get allowances… we'll have to see. JP McManus has got a lot of horses in a number of categories. He's a lot of horses in the Supreme as well, I've got Consul De Thaix of JP's that could easily come in there, then there's Paul's horse who was second in the Betfair, Movewiththetimes, and a number in Ireland as well. They'll have to put the right horses in the right place and that's probably not my call.
Consul Du Thaix
He's another who belongs to JP McManus and will come in somewhere. Where I'm not sure at this stage.
Daphne Du Clos
We might even hit the bumper this year which would be very, very strange for me. She's forward and mature for a four-year-old filly. The history books tell you that isn't possible but that looks open this year. I know poor Willie (Mullins) has lost his best one and she looked very good the other day and she gets all the allowances - I think she's got 10-4. I love bumpers but that as a race for young horses, if they're not up to it they get such a brutally hard race and our bumper horses aren't trained like that. They have a run and then they have a second run and they get put away for novice hurdles. Some guys probably have four of five trips to the racecourses and they're well prepared for it. You come down that hill flat to the boards with young horses and they will get hard races. They've got to be very good and I think she's different [to our usual bumper horses]. We were second in it with Trabolgan and he turned out to be a very good staying chaser.
Different Gravey
We were going to go back over hurdles - he's in the National Spirit at Fontwell on Sunday [and he had that entry] with a view to going back over hurdles including the Aintree Hurdle and missing Cheltenham. But, his jumping has come back the last 10 days. He'll either run in the Pendil on Saturday with a view to running in the JLT or he'll go to Fontwell and miss Cheltenham. I think the Pendil is the probability as his jumping has just come back, whereas three weeks ago he was just awful.
Domperignon Du Lys & Divin Bear
The Fred Winter is the handicap I like this year. It's normally not a race for us, you either have a Triumph horse or you don't have anything, but these two fit the bill here. Between them I think it's a race we have a very, very good chance in. They are slightly exposed, Divin Bear is rated 137 which is normally not where the winner comes from, Domperignon is 133 which is usually more realistic. They are both in good shape.
Josses Hill (and Vaniteux)
He's been excellent this year. He wasn't that good at Kempton but he's in good shape now. He goes for the Ryanair and some good ground would be nice. I think Un De Sceaux likes to get his toe in so good ground for that race please. Vaniteux is also in good form and goes for that race.
L'Ami Serge
He might go for that race at Fontwell on Sunday [National Spirit Hurdle]. Or is he still in the Champion Chase? Just see who's going to take on Douvan, look at the second and third prize money. That's the thought with him at the moment. Left-handed over fences, he's good round there. He did disappoint. I can excuse him Haydock but I don't know what happened at Cheltenham the time before because he looked to have done everything right that day. As I said to Simon [Munir, owner] afterwards, this horse looked like a two miler…….attack, attack, attack.
Lough Derg Spirit
He's looked very good. He won a good trial at Musselburgh last time on good ground which would help him. He might just be an Aintree horse rather than Cheltenham but we'll see, we could go either way.
Might Bite
Might Bite goes into the RSA. It was horrible at Kempton but he had a nice run around Doncaster. He's been very good. Someone said to me the other day 'will you be happy with him on an undulating track as he's only ever been around flat tracks?' Well, there are plenty of horses that have gone to Cheltenham having only run on flat tracks. It's not a worry. His jumping has been good. It would be nice for Might Bite not to have to make it. He must have a powerful engine. It was going to be a staggering performance [in the Kauto Star Novices' Chase].
River Wylde
He runs in the Sky Bet Dovecote at Kempton on Saturday and could run in the Supreme. That's a race you need the right horse for, if it's a year too soon get out of it, it's not where you want to be.
Top Notch
He's extraordinary because at the start of the season we said we'd give him a couple of runs in novice chases around the smaller tracks to give him confidence as he wouldn't have the scope for chasing. Then we could bring him back over hurdles and maybe try him over three, see if he made a Stayers' hurdler. He was a nowhere-to-go horse really. He was getting the hang of it in small-field novice chases and learning to jump and getting his confidence up. He grew and grew and grew and grew until we get to Sandown and he's the best jumper there is in the Scilly Isles. He loved it. He loves soft ground. Two-and-a-half helps him too. He'll have a tough task with Yorkhill and Whisper could be in the mix too.
Verdana Blue
She looked very good yesterday (at Taunton). She will almost certainly turn up in the Trull House Stud Mares Novices' Hurdle. She looked very good.
Whisper
Whisper I think goes for the JLT. He could move up to three, I want to talk to Davy Russell and Dai Walters about that. He stays three and it's a possible. He just went for a bit of a wander in the park for a year or so, we've all done it. He got beaten at Exeter by something not spectacular but he's put it together now and he gets on very well with Davy. He's a great style of riding a horse and he just tells him to get on with it and I love it. It suits him down to the groun
We're a long way from another Sprinter Sacre but he's creeping up the road. We took the same route as Sprinter did in the Game Spirit and now he's got to come out and win the Arkle. If it happens and he doesn't do something silly there will be comparisons with ratings and the like. You wouldn't believe you could put away one as great as that and replace him with another. And this is a two miles horse and two miles only. It can't have been the wrong thing to do [go over fences this season] as there are that many people trying to convince us to go in the Champion Chase. If he's capable of taking on Douvan we must be thinking we've got something right. This horse could jump with Douvan. A lot of horses can't because a) they aren't fast enough and b) they can't jump quick enough. So far that's what he's been able to do. After Sandown we said we'd stay down this road (novice chasing).
Beyond Conceit
It's between the Sky Bet Supreme and Neptune for him and if it came up very soft I'd definitely be keen to go to the Supreme. On good ground we might go over two-and-a-half. He pulled very hard over that trip at Ascot on Saturday and did well to win. It looked as though stamina won the day there but I wouldn't be sure. Barry rode him the first day at Newbury and said he didn't want any further. He's an older horse and travels well and I'm thinking two miles but we don't know.
Charli Parcs
I don't think he minds anything [ground-wise]. If he gets soft ground on Saturday at Kempton he'll run because he has to and I don't think it will worry him. I'd like to run him in the Triumph I must admit. He's very smart, a proper four-year-old. He's got to go and do it on Saturday. If you go into the Supreme you get allowances… we'll have to see. JP McManus has got a lot of horses in a number of categories. He's a lot of horses in the Supreme as well, I've got Consul De Thaix of JP's that could easily come in there, then there's Paul's horse who was second in the Betfair, Movewiththetimes, and a number in Ireland as well. They'll have to put the right horses in the right place and that's probably not my call.
Consul Du Thaix
He's another who belongs to JP McManus and will come in somewhere. Where I'm not sure at this stage.
Daphne Du Clos
We might even hit the bumper this year which would be very, very strange for me. She's forward and mature for a four-year-old filly. The history books tell you that isn't possible but that looks open this year. I know poor Willie (Mullins) has lost his best one and she looked very good the other day and she gets all the allowances - I think she's got 10-4. I love bumpers but that as a race for young horses, if they're not up to it they get such a brutally hard race and our bumper horses aren't trained like that. They have a run and then they have a second run and they get put away for novice hurdles. Some guys probably have four of five trips to the racecourses and they're well prepared for it. You come down that hill flat to the boards with young horses and they will get hard races. They've got to be very good and I think she's different [to our usual bumper horses]. We were second in it with Trabolgan and he turned out to be a very good staying chaser.
Different Gravey
We were going to go back over hurdles - he's in the National Spirit at Fontwell on Sunday [and he had that entry] with a view to going back over hurdles including the Aintree Hurdle and missing Cheltenham. But, his jumping has come back the last 10 days. He'll either run in the Pendil on Saturday with a view to running in the JLT or he'll go to Fontwell and miss Cheltenham. I think the Pendil is the probability as his jumping has just come back, whereas three weeks ago he was just awful.
Domperignon Du Lys & Divin Bear
The Fred Winter is the handicap I like this year. It's normally not a race for us, you either have a Triumph horse or you don't have anything, but these two fit the bill here. Between them I think it's a race we have a very, very good chance in. They are slightly exposed, Divin Bear is rated 137 which is normally not where the winner comes from, Domperignon is 133 which is usually more realistic. They are both in good shape.
Josses Hill (and Vaniteux)
He's been excellent this year. He wasn't that good at Kempton but he's in good shape now. He goes for the Ryanair and some good ground would be nice. I think Un De Sceaux likes to get his toe in so good ground for that race please. Vaniteux is also in good form and goes for that race.
L'Ami Serge
He might go for that race at Fontwell on Sunday [National Spirit Hurdle]. Or is he still in the Champion Chase? Just see who's going to take on Douvan, look at the second and third prize money. That's the thought with him at the moment. Left-handed over fences, he's good round there. He did disappoint. I can excuse him Haydock but I don't know what happened at Cheltenham the time before because he looked to have done everything right that day. As I said to Simon [Munir, owner] afterwards, this horse looked like a two miler…….attack, attack, attack.
Lough Derg Spirit
He's looked very good. He won a good trial at Musselburgh last time on good ground which would help him. He might just be an Aintree horse rather than Cheltenham but we'll see, we could go either way.
Might Bite
Might Bite goes into the RSA. It was horrible at Kempton but he had a nice run around Doncaster. He's been very good. Someone said to me the other day 'will you be happy with him on an undulating track as he's only ever been around flat tracks?' Well, there are plenty of horses that have gone to Cheltenham having only run on flat tracks. It's not a worry. His jumping has been good. It would be nice for Might Bite not to have to make it. He must have a powerful engine. It was going to be a staggering performance [in the Kauto Star Novices' Chase].
River Wylde
He runs in the Sky Bet Dovecote at Kempton on Saturday and could run in the Supreme. That's a race you need the right horse for, if it's a year too soon get out of it, it's not where you want to be.
Top Notch
He's extraordinary because at the start of the season we said we'd give him a couple of runs in novice chases around the smaller tracks to give him confidence as he wouldn't have the scope for chasing. Then we could bring him back over hurdles and maybe try him over three, see if he made a Stayers' hurdler. He was a nowhere-to-go horse really. He was getting the hang of it in small-field novice chases and learning to jump and getting his confidence up. He grew and grew and grew and grew until we get to Sandown and he's the best jumper there is in the Scilly Isles. He loved it. He loves soft ground. Two-and-a-half helps him too. He'll have a tough task with Yorkhill and Whisper could be in the mix too.
Verdana Blue
She looked very good yesterday (at Taunton). She will almost certainly turn up in the Trull House Stud Mares Novices' Hurdle. She looked very good.
Whisper
Whisper I think goes for the JLT. He could move up to three, I want to talk to Davy Russell and Dai Walters about that. He stays three and it's a possible. He just went for a bit of a wander in the park for a year or so, we've all done it. He got beaten at Exeter by something not spectacular but he's put it together now and he gets on very well with Davy. He's a great style of riding a horse and he just tells him to get on with it and I love it. It suits him down to the groun
Old Vic
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BigChaang
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I wonder if that stat / trend ?, would apply to Other Trainers O.V ??. Maybe suggest's that horses have a
Certain amount of time at the top , Archie mentioned something like this .
Each race taking so much out of the tank .
Certain amount of time at the top , Archie mentioned something like this .
Each race taking so much out of the tank .
Old Vic
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A very fair point BC. I read something lately that you should never consider any stat without a wider comparative. So really you should be comparing Hendersons win % after 9 chases to all horses after 9 chase starts. I think at the time of Mordins original quote there was probably a feeling that Nicholls chasers had a longer shelf life and there was definitely a time when Nicholls managed to keep horses coming back year after year. The Sprinter Sacre revival also works against the original stat.