Unibet International Hurdle
Grade 2, Cheltenham 15:00
£125,000 guaranteed,
4yo plus,
2m 179y, Class 1  
Saturday 24th January 2026

BetPlay

1 The New Lion 9/4
2 Nemean Lion 18/1
3 Brentford Hope 50/1
4 ran Distances: 1½l, nse
Time: 4m 24.88s (slow by 27.88s)

Cheltenham held its breath during a race that promised a mouthwatering clash between two emerging stars but ended with both triumph and тревога. Dan Skelton’s The New Lion secured the prize, yet the day was inevitably overshadowed by the injury sustained by Sir Gino.

Billed as a match between potentially the two best two-mile hurdlers in Britain, the four-runner contest unfolded with patience and poise. Both leading players were biding their time when, at the flight at the top of the hill, Sir Gino appeared to land awkwardly. Nico de Boinville immediately pulled him up, bringing an uneasy hush over the grandstands.

Harry Skelton, meanwhile, remained composed aboard The New Lion, content to take a lead for as long as possible. Already a Festival winner over two miles and five furlongs, he was asked to quicken approaching the last. Nemean Lion and Brentford Hope offered determined resistance, but The New Lion, sent off at 9-4, eventually asserted to win by a length and a half.

Dan Skelton’s first thoughts were with the fallen favourite. “I’m a big fan of this sport and Sir Gino could be the best horse in training and we just didn’t need that. We’re all thinking it and we just hope he is OK, it’s important.

“The team at Seven Barrows have been through hell and back to get him back on track and hopefully he is OK.”

Reflecting on his own runner, he added: “We needed to get a clear round after Newcastle and Harry did exactly what I wanted him to do and held him into the bottom of all the jumps. He was a lot more respectful today and even down to the last Harry is wrestling him getting him into the bottom of them as he’ll need those jumps in a Champion Hurdle.

“The unanswered question with this horse is the speed angle and I thought he showed a lot of speed at Newcastle despite us ending up on the floor. He showed a lot of speed there as well from turning in to the last and then from the last to the line.

“It will be a totally different race in the Champion Hurdle and they’ve gone round there at a crawl and I’m not saying I could have layed up alongside them but there is some who could.”

Harry Skelton admitted the incident had left everyone concerned. “I didn’t even know what happened to Sir Gino and the three of us said at the top of the hill ‘where is Nico?’ and you don’t want that to happen. Hopefully they are both OK.

“We just wanted to get a lead and Nico wanted a lead as well and it just shows you, that leading up to the Festival you want these horses coming through these trials well and I’m just delighted he’s got a clear round.

“We hacked round and sprinted and he’s not short of a gear and it just put a few manners on him a bit today. He’s only young, doesn’t have much experience and did what I wanted him to do and it will do his confidence good. Hopefully he will come back now in March.

“I’ve ridden in a Champion Hurdle and haven’t won one, but I would like to.”

As The New Lion was led back in, attention quickly turned to Sir Gino’s condition. The odds-on favourite and ante-post market leader for the Champion Hurdle, he had only recently returned from a lengthy absence caused by a serious leg infection that once threatened his career. His comeback in the Christmas Hurdle, beating reigning champion Golden Ace with ease, had confirmed his exceptional talent.

Nicky Henderson provided an update as his stricken star was taken from the track. “They were able to put him into the ambulance, it’s his right-hind, it appears to be high up so there’s no lower limb fractures – it would appear to be a pelvic injury at the moment.

“He has loaded and I’d rather they take him to Three Counties veterinary hospital without unloading here and then they can assess and scan and just see where we are. Everybody is fighting.

“Pelvic injuries can be little or big, so we’ve just got to keep everything crossed.

“We won’t know anymore tonight. They need a chance to assess him so it will be late on I expect.”

He added, with heartfelt sincerity: “I’ve been lucky enough to have many good horses but I haven’t had many like him, I can tell you that.”

The Jockey Club later confirmed: “In our sixth race of the day, Sir Gino was quickly pulled up and was dismounted.

“He was immediately attended to by our expert veterinary team where he was assessed on course.

“Sir Gino has walked onto the horse ambulance to go back to the stables for further assessment.”

A race that promised spectacle delivered it in part, but its lasting image was one of concern and hope, with the sport united in wishing Sir Gino a full recovery.

Unibet International Hurdle (Grade 2)
£125,000 guaranteed, 4yo plus, 2m 179y, Class 1
4 ran
Going: Soft

POS. DIST HORSE AGE WGT TRAINER JOCKEY SP
1    The New Lion 7 11-7 Dan Skelton Harry Skelton 9/4
2 1½ Nemean Lion 9 11-10 Kerry Lee Conor O'Farrell 18/1
3 nse Brentford Hope 9 11-4 Harry Derham Paul O'Brien 50/1
PU Sir Gino 6 11-10 Nicky Henderson Nico de Boinville 2/5F

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