Unibet ambassador Nicky Henderson gives his thoughts on the performances of some of his stable stars at the Cheltenham Festival and their plans for the rest of the season.
The Seven Barrows handler spoke about his leading lights ahead of the 2021 Virtual Peter O’Sullevan Lambourn Open Day.
Video tours and entertainment will be free-to-view throughout the Easter weekend, Friday 2nd April through to Monday 5th April, on the Lambourn Open Day website.
Racing fans across the globe will be able to see behind scenes at some of the UK’s leading training operations, with each Lambourn trainer’s page having a 360-degree stable tour, with horses of interest listed underneath. There will be a number of short videos and insight from some of the top names in Lambourn, including from Nicky Henderson and Oliver Sherwood.
CHAMP
We had two pretty good chances in the Gold Cup and that was very, very disappointing. To be fair it was all over after five fences with both horses. They were all running well, it was just that one race that was really disappointing.
Champ is going back home (to Martinstown Stud). He will have a bone scan next week. He has already had back surgery, but they are pretty sure they know where it is and what we need to do. It will involve further surgery on his back, there is no doubt that is what it was all about.
CHANTRY HOUSE
We would have been disappointed if we couldn’t give Envoi Allen some sort of a race, I didn’t expect to beat him. I think he (Envoi Allen) has been a superb horse, but I think Chantry House is good and I hoped that we would at least make him shake the reins. Sadly for them, it went wrong and he fell. It left the race wide open and it got into a very hustle and bustle contest. It nearly took Chantry House out of his comfort zone at one stage. Fusil Raffles was then travelling extremely well. It was quite nice when they came to the second last, our two horses were together and they had gone away, I thought they were both really good.
Chantry House is very good and I would expect him to go up to three miles shortly. We thought at the beginning of the season our strength this year would be the novice chasers. I am going to be ambitious and go to Aintree, all being well, with Shishkin in the two miler, Fusil Raffles in the two and a half miler and Chantry House will move up to three miles.
It certainly looked as if three miles was going to suit him. Aintree will be a good place to just try it out, before we go to bed for the summer and give us an idea of how we are going to plan next term.
I think Mister Fisher ran a really good race in an extraordinarily run Ryanair Chase. It was furious and he actually ran very well. I always thought he could move up to three miles and could be a King George horse, and I would say the same about Chantry House, watching him at Cheltenham, he certainly got the trip very well there and looks as if he would be suited to three miles. If Aintree went well, I am sure we would be thinking along the King George lines but there is a long way to go.
EPATANTE
I think she ought to have been second but I think it was a much better Unibet Champion Hurdle altogether this year. Sharjah beating her into second isn’t quite right. She didn’t have a great passage round, she didn’t quite get into her normal rhythm.
She is going to back to go back to Ireland, to Martinstown Stud, for her summer holiday so I would think she will take in Punchestown on the way. Honeysuckle was just very impressive. I think we are better than what we saw at Cheltenham, so we will give it another go, she has come back well.
SANTINI
We put a visor on him, to try and sharpen him up, and at home it appeared to be a good idea but on the racecourse it was not, he just didn’t face it. Some horses face them and some don’t and he didn’t.
He won’t go the Grand National this year, he will take a break now. I think it is where he will finish up one day.
SHISHKIN
Shishkin was great, he jumped like he always does, he was incredibly economical. It is his own technique of jumping fences, it is nearly hurdling rather than jumping, but it is very efficient and it is very quick, sometimes frighteningly quick. He doesn’t get much higher than he needs to.
Having had Sprinter Sacre and then Altior, they both won the Arkle before they won their Champion Chases, we must be extremely lucky to have found a third one who might be as good. We haven’t got that far yet, but he has won a Supreme and he has won an Arkle so he is on the road. He just could be anything.
I am hoping to go to Aintree, there is a Grade 1 there and I wouldn’t go to Punchestown this year.
It will be down the old Altior / Sprinter Sacre route (next season). Tingle Creek’s, Clarence House Chases and Champion Chases, it virtually dictates itself.
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