When you’re the Champion Trainer with over a 100 horses at your disposal, pinpointing a stable star is no easy task, neither is shortlisting the main contenders that fill the many boxes at the Seven Barrows base synonymous with champions past and present and home to the great Nicky Henderson.
Asked how the main man was and how he had enjoyed his summer, the reigning champion simply replied “Which one”.
However there can only be one horse that comes to the forefront of the left hand side of one’s National Hunt brain, the exciting bundle of Chasing potential that is Altior. As a novice he has already beaten most of his main rivals in the two mile division, and this season he builds up to a Wednesday afternoon in March and his crowning as the superstar of the one lap specialists.
“He’s summered well and looks super. Now it’s about getting him ready to match what he achieved last year when he was a star. Everything of course has to go right but we’re looking forward to it.”
All roads this year lead towards following in the footsteps of Henderson’s previous Champion Chase winners, the great Sprinter Sacre, Finian’s Rainbow and Remittance Man, who have all landed the premier test of a chasing speedster over two miles of old course jumping.
However the way he gets there remain fluid, despite an opening trip to Sandown locked in;
“The Tingle Creek is the obvious starting point, we could have started off in the Shloer Chase at Cheltenham but he likes Sandown and there isn’t much time as I would like between the two races.”
“After that he could possibly defend his Game Spirit at Newbury or go to Kempton over Christmas for the Desert Orchid”
Although there is little doubt that the superstar seven-year-old’s season will be geared towards the back end of the Season;
“He will definitely be busier towards the back end of the season once spring comes around. There’s the extra week gap between Cheltenham and Aintree this year and so there is the possibility of trying 2m4f in the Melling which I think would be no problem for him, and then he will probably head back to Sandown for the Celebration Chase.”
Held on an equally high Seven Barrows pedestal is his reigning champion hurdler Buveur D’Air;
“He was impressive all the way through last year, even in his chases, and it was a difficult call to return to hurdles.”
“It could easily have been him staying over fences, and Altior could have done the same but it was a bit of a brave decision that paid off. As you know the jungle drums were rumbling, but at the point we made the call Annie Power and Faugheen were still in the picture and we could have made ourselves look foolish, but this fella proved how good he really is and he really is a star.”
“He’s right up there with the best of them, definitely worthy of a place in Binocular’s league in terms of talent. A very good horse.”
A horse which is clearly better on softer ground, underfoot conditions could determine the route he takes to defend his title. You also have to throw in the mix his stablemate, the evergreen My Tent Or Yours;
“My god what a legend of a horse, and I would love to see him win the Grade One he deserves.”
“He could have been regarded as one of the best hurdlers I’ve had if he had won instead of finishing second so many times! And it was so cruel last year as he ran like a spring chicken in them two races.”
In comparison to his younger rival, his best performances have come when the ground is at its best, and therefore ground conditions could be the biggest indicator as to where we see the two green and gold competitors in the run up to the Cheltenham Festival;
“My Tent is much better on better ground, whereas Buveur prefers it a little softer so that will dictate where they go I imagine. I have to keep them apart as I can’t do it to My Tent anymore!”
Henderson also has a leading Gold Cup contender back in his yard with the enigmatic Might Bite, who went from lay of the Festival, to the saviour of the staying chase division in two exhilarating breakneck laps of the Prestbury Park undulations.
Henderson is optimistic if not getting carried away when talking about his potential;
“He’s got to step up and play with the big boys whether he likes it or not now so we shall soon find out how good he really can be.”
He is also looking to capture the perfect Christmas present by returning to the scene of his dramatic final fence fall last year;
“The King George would be the main aim, followed by the Gold Cup and obviously the Jockey Club dangle that huge carrot by putting on the bonus. But just because the objective is Kempton and Christmas doesn’t mean you have to go to Haydock and there is other options we can look at.”
Does he have any fears about returning to the Sunbury venue?
“He enjoys Kempton, the race he was running last Christmas was both impressive visually and stats wise in terms of times and speed figures. I have no doubts at all about taking him back there and think it could be the track that brings out the best in him.”
Giving the Champion Trainer the opportunity to land all four Championship races at the Festival is the resurgent L’ami Serge. A horse Henderson beams about and holds in the highest esteem following his Auteuil triumph, which saw him throw his hat firmly into the Stayers Hurdle ring;
“The trainer must be some fool to run a horse in the County Hurdle that wants three miles on soft ground in a French Champion Hurdle!”
“He got better and better as the season went on last year if you conveniently forget Ayr. When he won at Sandown he ran away with Daryl all the way round so we thought we had nothing to lose giving three miles a try. He was unlucky to just get touched off in the Prix la Barka but at least we knew we were on the right track with him, and Daryl gave him a peach of a ride in the Champion Hurdle itself.”
“We might not start over three miles with him but that is where he is almost certain to end up and you would love to think he could be a serious player in that staying hurdling division.”
Having landed two of the three novice chase contests at the most recent edition of The Festival, denied scooping all three by the monster Yorkhill, when beating the brave and battling little Top Notch in the JLT. Henderson looks to be assembling an equally strong squad to go to war with this term, led by the Grech and Parkin owned pair of River Wylde and Constantine Bay, who look to be Arkle and RSA bound respectively.
Speaking of the pair Henderson said;
“I’m seriously tempted to try Novice chasing with River Wylde and keep Lough Derg Spirit over hurdles. I’m sure he would get a little further but he’s got plenty of pace so no real need to go any further than two miles and speed tests should suit.”
“Whereas Constantine Bay just looks perfectly made for staying chasing. I felt sorry for him at the Festival as he was running a great race in the Albert Bartlett when being brought to a standstill at the second last and even though I don’t think he would have won, I think he would have definitely been second and you had to love the way he was powering up the hill that day when some horses would have given up.”
Grech and Parkin also hold a leading figure in the Seven Barrows novice hurdle ranks for the coming season with their ultra-consistent bumper horse Claimantakinforgan;
“His bumper form was rock solid and you would imagine he’ll be right up there if reproducing those form levels over hurdles.”
“I hate the Cheltenham bumper with a passion as a rule, but he deserved to run there having won at Haydock and Ascot and was definitely near the top of the tree when it came to bumper performers out their last season.”
“He’s a quick horse so I see no reason why two miles wouldn’t be his trip, although he did win a point to point over three so stepping up wouldn’t be completely out of the equation.”
There is also hope that Pym, sent by his handler to the Ayr bumper he has landed in the past with the likes of Sprinter Sacre, can make into a top novice contender this term;
“I couldn’t fault him at Ayr, he was visually impressive and beat some useful yardsticks that day. It’s a race we always like to target with something we think highly of, we took Sprinter Sacre there for his first outing, and it was nice that he showed what we were hoping for.”
Henderson heads into the new season as the clear man to beat. A live chance of picking up all four feature races at the Cheltenham Festival, and a King George there to be won. If this wasn’t horse racing then a successful title defence would be a foregone formality. It could be a season to savour for the master off Seven Barrows, Henderson’s Heroes are just getting warmed up.
