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Nicky Henderson Stable Visit
29/02/12
Nicky Henderson has remained at the top of his profession after almost 34 years with a training licence and he looks set to lay down his strongest challenge for the trainers’ championship in a bid to end the six-season dominance of Paul Nicholls.
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He had his best ever total of 153 winners in the 2010/11 campaign, which saw Long Run develop into Britain’s best chaser, and accrued just over £2.2 million in prize money, another personal best, as he finished runner-up in the trainers’ championship (decided on prize money) for a third successive season.
He celebrated his 2,000th Jump winner when Punchestowns triumphed in a graduation chase at Kempton on February 11, 2011.
He currently lies a close second behind Paul Nicholls in the trainers’ championship, with close to £1.4 million in prize money.
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Henderson said: “Binocular is just in very good form. We were going to Newbury to have a gallop, because I thought he would need it, but we went to Wincanton for a race and did not look like he needed a run at all. Maybe we don’t need to do too much more with him. He looks slick and happy - he enjoyed his race the other day and seemed back to himself. Hurricane Fly is there and is there to be beaten. We thought we were going into the Champion Hurdle with three horses and now we have one which shows how fickle this game is. If you think the next fortnight is going to be fun, you must be joking. With what we saw at Wincanton, maybe one will do. I hope so. I know he is not everybody’s favourite but I love him. He is pretty unlucky not to have had a higher Cheltenham profile - I would have thought he would have won three Champion Hurdles by now but life hasn’t been easy for him or me.”
“Riverside was very good the other day. He is not a huge, heavy horse and was probably fairly fit at Ascot but you would like to think there was a bit of improvement in him. He will go for the Ryanair and we are exactly where we were last year. Some people say he does not like Cheltenham - I hope they are wrong. It is only because he ran in the Arkle and got completely outpaced but he is much sharper now. He only missed six months with his pelvis problem and I would be disappointed if he bounced.”
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Finian’s Rainbow, runner-up in last year’s Racing Post Arkle Trophy Chase, landed the Grade Two Desert Orchid Chase at Kempton Park, while the latest superstar on the block is Sprinter Sacre, who is still a novice but was a facile winner from seasoned rivals in the Grade Two Game Spirit Chase at Newbury on February 17. Sprinter Sacre, owned by Caroline Mould, has won all three of races over fences.
Nicky Henderson said: “Barry (Geraghty) came last weekend and schooled Finian's Rainbow. He worked on the grass this morning. He and Oscar Whisky live out together and are quite good mates.”
“A lot of people say do I wishOscar Whisky was still in the Champion Hurdle and the bottom line is no. Dai (Walters - owner) and I have talked about him. Oscar stays two and a half miles well so we are going to try the impossible and take on Big Buck’s. He has the one horse to beat and is in very good form. It all went well this morning. Let’s see what happens at Cheltenham but I would expect him to go over fences next season. We have to find out what his trip is. It is quite unusual going into a race like the Ladbrokes World Hurdle untried over the distance. But that was always the point. The only other way of doing it was to try Big Buck’s before this but we went the two and a half mile route. I have always said this - I wish there was a Ryanair Hurdle because that would be very handy. I think we have a great chance of being there at the last in the World Hurdle to have a fight with Big Buck’s. This horse would have some speed if he had the stamina. He must have a chance - as good a chance as any horse that has taken Big Buck’s on for a while. Big Buck’s is probably the best three-mile hurdler I have seen. He has dominated by a very long way and been in a different league. I love horses who can switch off like Big Buck’s does and just doodle around for two and three quarter miles and then switch on to win.”
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Nicky Henderson said: “Long Run did a bit of work this morning. He will have one session with Yogi (Briesner) next Wednesday and he will not see a fence between now and then. He will wear earplugs in the paddock at Cheltenham and going to the start but he won’t wear them in the race. That was what we did at Newbury. That was the first time we had taken them out at the start. If you start in them, you have to finish in them. It is just to take the parade out if you like. Then he can have a rush of adrenalin. It was a good gallop at Newbury though not what Kauto (Star) was going at Haydock and Kempton. Haydock is a very different track to anything else at the moment - it favours speed which did not suit him. Kempton is better for him and Newbury even better than that. I don’t think there is any doubt that this is a different Kauto to the one we were playing with last season when we were two-nil up. Now it is two all so it is going to be a very interesting battle. I have a nasty feeling that public opinion will go to the old favourite and I will be sat in a little corner and be very unpopular if we happen to beat him. Last year we hoped for a great race and it was. It is building up to be the same thing this year. There is all to play for and there isn’t much between the two horses. I do think Kauto has to be better than he was last season. He was going through a little patch then and no doubt that was why there were a lot of people baying for Kauto’s retirement at the end of last season - the only thing I can say is that I wish Paul (Nicholls) had done so - it would have made life a lot easier!”
“Burton Port has never been very big but he has been in good form all season. He got 10lb from Long Run but ran very well at Newbury. He has got to improve to win the Gold Cup and can improve. He has to beat the dreaded bounce after running well after a long time off. The bounce factor does happen and this is the horse I am worried about. He looks fantastic - he is an amazing horse - a bit like Bobs Worth - you would not know he was here - he does not flash around. When he won most of his races, he did not show us he was a very good horse, rather a very nice person who got on with the job. He was second in the Hennessy and then had his time off when he went back to Gledhill , Trevor’s (Hemmings - the owner) stud and Mick Meagher did a lot of work with him there before he came back to us. His work this season has been very much superior to anything he had done before. I don’t why but he seems to have improved at home. It was a very good run at Newbury and he looks tremendous. Trevor has said this is a good horse and we are going to win the Gold Cup.”
Henderson best seasonal tally was 153 British winners in 2010/2011, while this season he has sent out 128 scorers up to the start of racing on Tuesday, February 28.
