Marcus Townend visits Nicky Henderson for our first jumps stable tour heading into the new season.
There were some difficult times for Nicky Henderson last season but it was not all negative.
Despite the Cheltenham Festival being a non-event for his Lambourn stable after illness descended on it, the six-time champion trainer still managed to produce 91 winners and topped over £2million in prize money for the third consecutive campaign.
The fatal injury to the six-time grade one winner Shishkin was a grievous blow but Henderson’s team still landed six Grade One prizes and the horses that won them – Constitution Hill, Jonbon, Jango Baie and Sir Gino – are once again expected to contest this season’s biggest prizes.
Inevitably, the main focus will be on the brilliant 2023 Champion Hurdle winner Constitution Hill, who had already suffered from a season-disrupting respiratory bug when struck down by the sickness which hit the stable before the Festival.
Then, as he was being prepared to run at Aintree’s Grand National meeting, Constitution Hill was struck down by a potentially life-threatening bout of colic which required a five-day stay in the equine hospital. But the Michael Buckley-owned hurdler has had a breathing operation, been switched to a new airy box with access to his own paddock at the Henderson stable, and is filling his trainer with positive thoughts.
So is the novice chase team. Henderson has over a dozen 130+ rated horses switching to the larger obstacles. The trainer said: “We lacked a top-class novice chaser last season but that department looks very strong this time.”
“She has been a little star. I say little but she has actually grown over the summer. Having come off the Flat, she won two of her five starts over hurdles. It was Nico’s idea then to try her over fences. I thought it was a brave shout for what looked a Flat race filly but she won three of her four stars impressively. She would have been out again in the spring but for a freakish injury.
“We had to turn her out for the summer and that has done her no end of good and we look forward to resuming over fences.”
“She won a mares’ maiden hurdle at Hereford before narrowly landing a valuable hurdle at Lingfield after we successfully appealed the decision of stewards on the day to disqualify her.
“Her final run in a grade two hurdle at Sandown in February didn’t work out but she is a lovely big mare and jumps very well. We look like trying novice chasing with her.”
“A good-looking son of Choeur du Nord, sire of Jeriko Du Reponet. He won a bumper at Wincanton in January, getting the hang of things late on. He has schooled well and goes straight into novice hurdles. He will probably start over two miles but I wouldn’t be surprised to see him going further in future.”
“He is a very progressive young horse. He won a hurdle at Ludlow in November and we then got a little too ambitious in a grade two novice hurdle at Cheltenham’s Trials meeting when he was fifth to Gidleigh Park.
“I wanted to get another run into him and he finished the season finishing second to a very well handicapped horse at Ayr’s Scottish National meeting. That was very encouraging.
“He is from a family we know well, being out of Chocca Wocca who we trained. He will go chasing and has always been a sound jumper.”
“The plan has to be the same, there is nothing else you can do. It will be Fighting Fifth, Christmas Hurdle, maybe the Unibet International Hurdle in January and then the Champion Hurdle.
“We have built him a new house because it is vitally important to keep this horse’s lungs clean. It is to maximise the environment he lives in. He comes out of his box into his field with a buck and a kick so he is well. Now we have to keep it that way.
“He had a bad scope originally last season. That was cleared up and then he had the gallop at Kempton when he was wrong and that was to do with his lungs as well.
“Then he got colic. Everybody screams that I have all the excuses in the book and the ones who want to pull us down think we make this up as we go along, but he was in hospital for the best part of a week. Luckily, he didn’t have to have surgery.
“Constitution Hill isn’t the greatest name he could have because his constitution is a little bit vulnerable. We have to mind him day and night because he can change shape very dramatically.
“By the end of last season he looked pretty ragged. He went back to his summer camp with Charlie Vigors and Tracy, who we have sadly lost, and has returned looking bigger, taller and happier than ever.
“During that time he did have a wind operation which we always thought might be necessary. He certainly didn’t show a need for it in the Christmas Hurdle but there were signs of an issue.
“These are things all horses get but, from some comments, you would think he had had a disastrous crash in form. At Kempton when he won the Christmas Hurdle again on Boxing Day he was as good as he had been the whole of the rest of last year.”
“He is not as robust as some and had to have a lot of time off injured. There was no certainty he would race again but he is a fine horse and very talented. He is owned by Kenny Alexander and the prizemoney he wins goes to the Doddie Weir Foundation.
“He returned last season with a good win at Ascot before finishing second in a competitive Cheltenham handicap hurdle.
“After he finished well in fourth in the Betfair Hurdle at Newbury we thought another half mile would help so we ran him in the Coral Cup at Cheltenham but he probably didn’t have enough experience and didn’t jump with his usual fluency.
“He ended the season with a respectable run at Ayr. He looks like a chaser and that is the plan this season.”
“She finished the season with a fantastic performance winning the Oaksey Chase at Sandown. We toyed with the Grand National with her last season and she finished sixth in the Topham, having finished second in the race the previous season.
“She wouldn’t have made the cut for the National last season but the Oaksey Chase win has seen her rating rise to 149. She is the most wonderful jumper, although you don’t have to be anymore with the National fences. If the owners were keen to go for the race, I would be too.”
“He has jumped fences very well and is very straightforward so that looks like what we will do. He would get further but has got pace for two miles as he showed when winning the Greatwood and Betfair Hurdle last season.
“If he can win those sort of handicaps he can’t really be crying out for two and a half miles. He is obviously very talented and has the potential to go to the very top.”
“He is a gorgeous, big staying chaser type and he is ready to go novice chasing. He finished second and third last season in top class maiden hurdles at Ascot before winning a 2m 5f maiden hurdle at Kempton in May.”
“He began last season on a competitive mark winning a handicap hurdle at Cheltenham before finishing second to our own Luccia in a valuable handicap at Ascot in December.
“That was a cracking run. He gave us the impression he needed further so we ran him in the 2m 5f Lanzarote Hurdle at Kempton. He was a very solid third but we felt he might not have stayed that far.
“He is another destined for novice chasing.”
“We worked out winning the Grade One Formby Hurdle at Aintree was the unluckiest thing he did last season. It is nice to win a Grade One but it got him a 5lb penalty and he was then second in both the Sydney Banks Novices’ Hurdle at Huntingdon and the Premier Novices’ Hurdle at Kelso, beaten less than two lengths each time. The irony of the system is he would probably have won more if he hadn’t won the Grade One.
“He finished the season with another second in a 2m 4f handicap hurdle at Aintree, finishing strongly after being hampered at the second last. He will go novice chasing. He gets two and a half miles well.”
“It will be novice chasing for him. I think he probably needs two and a half miles. He is a beautiful horse and one with enormous potential.
“He started last season winning twice at Newbury and then the Grade Two Rossington Main Novices’ Hurdle at Doncaster [replay below]. It was not as comfortably as I would have liked but still a smart performance.
“In a normal year I think he would have been incredibly competitive at Cheltenham but as we know our horses weren’t at their best and he was pulled up in the Sky Bet Supreme.”
“He was very impressive winning a Sandown novices’ handicap hurdle in February under top weight and then was no match for Ballyburn in the Gallagher Novices’ Hurdle at Cheltenham when, as we know, it was the wrong week to be in action for our string.
“He has grown and strengthened and looks every inch a chaser and that is what he will be doing. Two and a half miles is probably his optimum trip.”
“He proved he does stay two and a half miles when winning the Melling Chase at Aintree but he will stick to the two-mile route starting with Shloer Chase at Cheltenham in November and the Tingle Creek Chase at Sandown the following month. Then there is the Clarence House, Champion Chase and Aintree. It sounds easy but everything has to go right.
“He has been an absolute star for us. His only defeat last season was in the re-scheduled Clarence House at Cheltenham when he made the most dreadful mistake coming down the hill and he was still only just denied.
“He missed last season’s Champion Chase because of the situation with our stable. Again it seemed the right thing to do. Hopefully, he can make it this time because it is a race he deserves to win.”
“She is a grand mare and closely related to Epatante.
“It wasn’t easy going last season as she had a few niggles but she still won her only race at Taunton nicely. The niggles prevented us running again but she finished the season in good shape and I think she has a bright future.”
“A very attractive filly who was running in AQPS flat races in France, winning two at grade three level and being third in a grade one. She looks fabulous and will start her novice hurdle career in the autumn.”
“Another who has been running in AQPS races in France, winning two of her three starts over a mile and a half and two miles. She is related to Epatante. Hopefully she can get somewhere near to what she achieved! It’s likely mares’ races will be in mind for her.”
“It’s probably safe to assume she didn’t stay two and a half miles when fourth in the Aintree Hurdle but it was hard to judge when some of the horses still weren’t doing exactly what you expected. She has been an absolute star for us and has never finished out of the first four in 11 starts.
“Last season, she was third to Iberico Lord in the Greatwood Hurdle, won the valuable handicap hurdle at Ascot and in December and then put in her greatest display when third to State Man in the Champion Hurdle.
“She will stick to the two-mile route and there is a nice little programme for her. This will almost certainly be her last season.”
“He is a classy looking five-year-old which has shown loads of promise including when fourth to Langer Dan in the Coral Cup at the Festival, an outstanding performance for a novice. We think he is very promising and progressive youngster who could stay over hurdles but also has the novice chase option.”
“We bought him at the Doncaster May Sale after he was very impressive in an Irish point-to-point. He is an exciting prospect. He looks magnificent and will be going novice hurdling.”
“He looks pretty smart. He is a big Flemensfirth gelding from a good family. He had a problem early last year which meant a year off which might not have been the worst thing as he has come back bigger and better. He will start off in novice hurdles.”
“The German Derby winner had attracted a lot of attention after his purchase. He can have a bit of time off. He will have a go over hurdles this winter but it is wrong to say he has specifically been bought to go jumping. He has been bought as a racehorse, be it Flat or jumping, and also with potential to be a stallion.
“Somebody said there was an underbidder who was going to take him to the Melbourne Cup so why shouldn’t we? Anything is possible.”
“Another exciting prospect who could be pretty smart. He had won a Newcastle Bumper before he joined us and he won his two starts last season – both at Cheltenham very convincingly. He has grown and strengthened in the summer and novice chasing is the plan.
“We know he gets two and a half miles but he doesn’t lack pace and he has won on good and soft ground. He could be very good.”
“He won the Grade Two Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle at Cheltenham in December. He the finished the season finishing fourth to Dancing City in the Grade One Sefton Novices’ Hurdle at Aintree but it is hard to judge them on the final runs last season because what had happened. He has grown considerably during the summer.
“He will be a three-miler and is another going novice chasing. It will not be a surprise if he is near the top in that sphere.”
“The four/five-year-old season is notoriously difficult but he is a very good horse. There was nothing wrong with him before the Triumph Hurdle but, like four or five or them with everything that was going on with the stable, it didn’t seem the sensible thing to run. You have to say he would surely have won the Triumph Hurdle, that would not have been difficult.
“He had been impressive winning at Cheltenham in January and beat a highly-rated opponent in Kargesse in the grade one juvenile hurdle at Aintree. He was always a big horse but he has grown considerably which is scary. If Constitution Hill is going Fighting Fifth and Christmas Hurdle we have to try to find an alternate route. It complicates things that the owners have State Man in Ireland.
“But I am not going to make too much of a fuss about it. It wouldn’t happen in the Fighting Fifth but maybe we might have to run both in the Christmas Hurdle.”
“A big horse who had won a point-to-point in Ireland for Derek O’Connor when we bought him. He began his hurdle career winning a decent maiden at Sandown. We then went back there for a grade two in desperate ground in December and things weren’t going very well when he and Nico parted company at the second last.
“He went back to Sandown again January and was second to a decent marker. All his races have been at two miles but he will get further and make a chaser. That’s the plan. He could be good.”
“I like him a lot. He began with a second place to Regent’s Stroll, who made a lot of money at owner Chris Giles’s dispersal sale, in an Ascot Bumper before finishing second again in a Kempton Bumper.
“We them took him to the Punchestown Festival where I thought he had a genuine chance but he didn’t run up to expectations. He has strengthened up enormously over the summer and is ready to start the day job over hurdles. His jumping has been excellent.”
“He is a very good looking gelding who had won two Doncaster Bumpers when he joined us. He began his hurdling career impressively winning at Newbury in November but when we went back there for the Grade One Challow Hurdle in December it went horribly wrong, pulling far too hard and not getting home on pretty soft ground.
“He wasn’t right after that and we put him away for the rest of the season so he could recover. He has come back bigger and stronger. Nobody knows how good he could be but he is potentially top class.”
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