By Sam Hanson
Nicky Henderson took some of his potential Cheltenham Festival stars for a racecourse gallop at Kempton Park on Tuesday 1st March and as the two-week countdown to Jump Racing’s ‘Olympics’ begins admitted: “It’s squeaky bum time.”
Among those sent to the Surrey track for a day out by the Seven Barrows trainer were Sky Bet Supreme Novices’ Hurdle contenders Jonbon, ridden by Aidan Coleman, and Constitution Hill with Nico de Boinville on board.
Coleman was also riding Unibet Champion Hurdle contender Epatante, Ahorsewithnoname and Dame de Compagnie while the rest of Henderson’s team to be given a gallop on the All-Weather track were Tweed Skirt, Pistol Whipped and Captain Morgs (all James Bowen), I Am Maximus and Dusart (both Nico de Boinville).
Henderson is the most successful UK-based handler of all-time at The Festival™, having saddled 70 winners.
With exactly two weeks to go until the tape goes up for the first of 28 races at The Festival™, Henderson said of the gallop: “These things are never guaranteed to go exactly as you expect, but I would say by and large there were no nasty shocks, which is good.
“The amazing thing is their times were so consistent, each one was within a second or a second-and-a-half of each other. Some find it easier than others obviously, but I was very pleased with Jonbon – his demeanour and his behaviour and everything, if he’d have got himself at all wound up I was perfectly happy to take him straight home and not even go out there. I thought he strode out really well, he was beautiful.
“That (the All-Weather at Kempton Park) is a fantastic surface when Barney (Clifford, Clerk of the Course) digs it up. I’ve got to say I’m very grateful to them as we’ve done this for years now and it’s a beautiful surface to do it on.”
Referring to The Festival getting ever nearer, he added: “We’ve just got to do what we can with what we’ve got and don’t worry about what other people are doing otherwise you’ll drive yourself crazy. I was having lunch with Willie (Mullins) yesterday and it’s good fun, and it’s good competitive stuff. I said, ‘I’m looking forward to seeing you’ and I tried to persuade him to leave the horses behind but I don’t think he was up for that…
“As Willie said to me yesterday ‘it’s squeaky bum time’ and that applies to every trainer in the country…
“We watch with interest and some of it is a bit scary, but we know what races they’ve got to run in, so there’s not much point in worrying.”
Henderson also explained why he had picked a select group of horses and left others at home.
He said: “I purposely haven’t come with Shishkin. He didn’t need another gallop after Ascot. He worked this morning and Nico was thrilled with him, and the other ones that haven’t come are Chantry House and Champ because they had races on Trials Day, so they’re not short of work and have got themselves there.
“These are the ones that haven’t run for a length of time, just to get them out there and it just sparks them up a little bit. It’s not that you’re doing much more, it’s just a day out, it puts a spring in their step and I think they enjoy it.
“They all want to get out there and get on with it. They do enjoy it, it’s what they’re born and bred to do. They know where they are, they go out there happy as you like and all wanting to go – they enjoy it.”
Assessing how some of those who galloped at Kempton Park had handled their work, Henderson continued: “Constitution Hill is impossible and it’s all pretty easy for him too, but again he’s fit and well.
“He’s just needs to light the fire and it’s a good time to do it as well. He’ll do one bit of work next week and that will be it.
“Jonbon wasn’t doing as much as Constitution Hill. He was only here to have a nice time on his own, keep it cool and just let him stride on up the straight. He had a good breeze – he was sort of breezing five furlongs whereas the others were galloping two miles.
“He only cantered round for the first lap and then just let him stride up the last five or six furlongs. If you’d have timed him over the last five I suspect he would have been the quickest of the lot, in that he’d done nothing until then. He was just having a breeze to come home.”
Henderson also responded to comments made by rival trainer Dan Skelton 24 hours earlier about Festival horses needing to be kept fresh to have the best chance of emerging victorious.
He added: “I agree that they’ve got to be fresh but they’ve got to be fit too. You’ve got to be 100 per cent fit and that’s certainly what the Irish horses will be. I don’t think you could substitute five per cent fitness for five per cent extra freshness.
“Yes it’s good to have them fresh and well, but we’ll do another bit of work with them on Tuesday, our normal day, I would suspect they’ll have a gallop on the grass over a mile on Tuesday.
“We probably might stagger the days a little bit according to which days they’re running, but say Jonbon and Constitution Hill, they’ve never been together and they’re not going to go together so that’s that.”
Henderson also addressed the subject of which jockeys will ride his main contenders at The Festival.
He said: “I think nothing much changes to be honest. Aidan rides Jonbon, Nico rides Constitution Hill, Aidan rides Epatante, Jonjo Jr will ride Champ, Nico rides most of the others and there’s a few there for James Bowen.
“I don’t know which ones he’ll ride, we haven’t really sorted the handicaps. Tweed Skirt goes well – she’ll run in the Parnell Properties Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle. There’s things like Tweed Skirt in the Mares’, Ahorsewithnoname, and then we’ve got Marie’s Rock in the Close Brothers Mares’ Hurdle.”
Karen can usually be found glued to her computer or at the stables. Having edited several national magazines she co-founded Eclipse Magazine in 2008 after realising that many of her friends were nervous about going racing due to lack of information – what to wear, how to bet etc.
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