Nicky Henderson
I'll run three in the Stan James Champion Hurdle, Brain Power, Buveur D'Air and My
Tent Or Yours and
it's just a question of where we'll finish them off now. Nothing will run
beforehand and there are various gallops planned.
Because he didn't run at Sandown I was toying with running Brain
Power at Kempton on Saturday but decided against it. He worked well on Monday
and Buveur D'Air did likewise on Tuesday. Brain Power cantered around Newbury
after the Betfair Hurdle.
My Tent Or Yours is in good shape, really good shape. He was
second in the Champion last year and has been something of a forgotten horse.
He wasn't quite sparkling earlier in the season and will go to Kempton on
Tuesday for a gallop.
He'll love the Champion. He wants a really fast-run race, which
he hasn't had it all year. We should have made the running in the Haydock race
which turned into a silly affair.
It's so far so good with them, they're all intended runners.
Barry Geraghty hasn't given me any indication what he's going to ride, I
haven't spoken to him about it.
I hope David Mullins will ride Brain Power. I'd imagine it's
between Buveur D'Air and Yanworth for Barry, or he could surprise you and ride
Tent.
I should think there's a possibility Noel Fehily would ride
Buveur D'Air if Barry didn't. He rode him all last season and Barry virtually
sat on him for the first time in his life at Sandown last time.
The good thing is it isn't a problem from my point of view. If
Barry rides our horse, great, if he doesn't I don't think we have a problem.
I think Brain Power has done everything right and looks really
well, he's been great, the one thing you could say is there is a ground
situation here.
Buveur D'Air would love it soft and Brain Power good. We all
know on day one it's going to be good to soft or softer. The softer the better
for Buveur D'Air - that helps him and goes against Brain Power and My Tent Or
Yours.
If you take it strictly on what he did at Sandown, Buveur D'Air
wouldn't deserve to be favourite for a Champion Hurdle. He beat Rayvin Black
and Irving who didn't' really perform there or at Wincanton the next time where
they were beaten even further. We've just got to do our own thing though.
I've always thought he was a Champion Hurdle horse even though
he was very good over fences. The switch back wasn't entirely down to what was
happening with the Champion Hurdle
Altior
We're a long way
from another Sprinter Sacre but he's creeping up the road. We took the same
route as Sprinter did in the Game Spirit and now he's got to come out and win
the Arkle. If it happens and he doesn't do something silly there will be
comparisons with ratings and the like. You wouldn't believe you could put away
one as great as that and replace him with another. And this is a two miles
horse and two miles only. It can't have been the wrong thing to do [go over
fences this season] as there are that many people trying to convince us to go
in the Champion Chase. If he's capable of taking on Douvan we must be thinking
we've got something right. This horse could jump with Douvan. A lot of horses
can't because a) they aren't fast enough and b) they can't jump quick enough.
So far that's what he's been able to do. After Sandown we said we'd stay down
this road (novice chasing).
Different Gravey
We were going to go back over hurdles - he's in the National
Spirit at Fontwell on Sunday [and he had that entry] with a view to going back
over hurdles including the Aintree Hurdle and missing Cheltenham. But, his
jumping has come back the last 10 days. He'll either run in the Pendil on
Saturday with a view to running in the JLT or he'll go to Fontwell and miss
Cheltenham. I think the Pendil is the probability as his jumping has just come
back, whereas three weeks ago he was just awful.
Top Notch
He's extraordinary because at the start of the season we said
we'd give him a couple of runs in novice chases around the smaller tracks to
give him confidence as he wouldn't have the scope for chasing. Then we could
bring him back over hurdles and maybe try him over three, see if he made a
Stayers' hurdler. He was a nowhere-to-go horse really. He was getting the hang
of it in small-field novice chases and learning to jump and getting his
confidence up. He grew and grew and grew and grew until we get to Sandown and
he's the best jumper there is in the Scilly Isles. He loved it. He loves soft
ground. Two-and-a-half helps him too. He'll have a tough task with Yorkhill and
Whisper could be in the mix too.
Paul Nicholls
Le Prezien
He's in everything, pretty well - I took him out of the JLT but
he's in the Arkle, the Grand Annual and the two-mile-five handicap chase. If
Altior wasn't in the Arkle I'd be very keen to run him; he's won at Cheltenham
already over two miles and I'm sort of convinced two miles suits him better
when they go a good gallop. He doesn't look as well as some in his coat but
he's a good horse. I don't think he ran his race at Sandown the other day.
He'll definitely run in something at Cheltenham - hopefully one of the handicaps.
Politologue
This is one of our big hopes. He holds a couple of entries but
I've taken him out of the Arkle and he does run in the JLT. He's really
progressive, three from four over fences this year, and just had a canter
around Kempton last week having had a hard enough race at Haydock before that
which was a very good run. He's rated close to 150 which is a smart mark for a
novice over fences. He ran a little free at Haydock and has always been a bit
buzzy in the preliminaries, which is the complete opposite to what he's like at
home. We put a hood on him the last day at Kempton and he was very relaxed, Sam
Twiston-Davies was thrilled with him, and the one thing with him is he's a
grand jumper. The ground won't worry him much and Cheltenham has been his aim
all season. He's a really nice horse for next year, too.
Colin Tizzard
Native River
I suppose [I
thought he was a Gold Cup candidate] since the last race last when he won the
Grade One at Aintree. Richard Johnson gave him a hell of a ride. Up until then
he was a big baby and all the jockeys were having to push him on from start to
finish and I was more concerned that we were going to sour him really by making
him do it. But it’s the sign of a good horse. Then he came out this year, won
the Hennessy, won the Welsh National and we’ve seen the classier side to him at
Newbury last week. He’s got all that it takes to be a Gold Cup horse whether he
wins it or not. He’s only seven and he’s going the right way. I think he’s got
a bit more to him than we saw at Newbury, even in that race and in the Welsh
National he showed a spurt where he went six lengths clears but we don’t have
to go on six or eight out, I think now we can sit on that and save that spurt
until two out. He’s a good horse and we know that he can gallop up the
Cheltenham hill, he’s got everything.
Cue Card
I’ll never hear
anything against him, he’s been a fantastic horse for us. He’s won a Champion
Bumper, he’s won the Ryanair and he was running a hell of a race last year and
people said that might be his only chance of winning a Gold Cup but here we are
after last week and he looked as though he was as good as he’d ever been and he
got a Racing Post mark as good as any horse this season. Does he stay? I’m sure
he does. He’s got it all there. It’s just a testament to the horse. I’m so
proud of him. Like this morning - it was only 10 days ago that he raced – when
he was cantering, he was coming up with his head in his chest, loving every
second of it as though he was doing it for the first season. He didn’t run to
his best form at Kempton, whether that was because he took Thistlecrack on out
in the country I don’t know but the fact was that he was lame behind the next
day. Whether that was coming on we don’t know. They don’t all run to their best
form, they’re not machines, on any given day. We’re going there as first and
second favourites but that doesn’t mean they’re going to win it, they’ve got to
bring their best game to the races on that day.
Gordon Elliott
Apple’s Jade
She goes for the
Mares’ Hurdle. Limini didn’t surprise me at all, she was the better horse on
the day and we had absolutely no excuses. I’d be hoping a bit of better ground
and a faster gallop would suit Apple’s Jade. I’d be delighted if Limini went
down the Champion route but if she’s there we’ll take her on again. You can’t
be worrying about one horse or you wouldn’t run them. She takes her racing well
and I’d say she’ll definitely come on for her last run. If we could get a lead,
something to take her there I’d be happier. She was obviously the best filly on
the day when she beat Vroum Vroum Mag as she won the race. She’s a nice mare to
have and I’m looking forward to running her.
Diamond King
Diamond King’s
great. A bit of good ground and you’ll see a different horse. He was very good
at Galway where he had nice ground and he just couldn’t get out of it as well
last time. But I’m looking forward to him, he goes for the Brown Advisory &
Merriebelle Stable Plate on the Thursday.
Nigel Twiston Davies
Bristol De Mai
Very exciting. What
we saw at Haydock was phenomenal and if we'd taken that race to Newbury, he'd
have been a lot better but he wasn't in the same form but he's had a nice long
break now and he's in great form.
He was really good
at Haydock, we can put a line through Newbury. He just wasn't himself that day.
We thought 'oh dear, he's not very good' but when we got back home he was lame
and he had a whole week of lameness and, you know, not being right.
He slightly twisted
a joint-type thing or whatever it was. He's come right now as you saw today and
if he can stay sound, then he'll be very good. I'm very hopeful.
He didn't jump with
his normal fluency and he hung badly to the left, he's never done any of that
before. Straight afterwards we thought we'd run him too soon after the last
race but he was very lame when he came off the lorry and he's had lots of
injections and treatments and things and he looks 100% now.
You saw him today,
he looks absolutely gorgeous so hopefully he'll be right back in the fray
again.
It's impossible to
compare him to Imperial Commander, you can't compare them.
We'll play it by
ear [tactically], he's very much a horse that goes his own pace; you don't tell
him what to do. He'll be right up there in the front line but he's settling a
lot better now and he stays, jumps - he's uncomplicated.
The ground's not a
worry, I think it inconveniences others more than him if it is soft but he
seems to go on anything; he was second in the Festival last year in the JLT and
now he goes well over further.
His stamina was a
surprise because in his younger days he was overkeen but now he settles, he'll
stay as long as you want. I think he's very much under the radar now and I can
understand that, I couldn't understand that with Imperial Commander but I can understand
his, because he did run very badly, well not badly, but it wasn't a great run
at Newbury.
Ballyoptic
He was right
upsides Unowhatimeanharry at Ascot when he fell. He was a little bit
disappointing at Cheltenham last time, he's had some time off and come back
really well and strong - let's hope he can do the business. Again, he's right
up there in the ratings and if it was a handicap, he'd be one of the top ones.
He gallops and
stays. The two falls he's had he just slipped on landing, the one he took a
stride and it wasn't his fault at all at Wetherby, he just lost his backend at
Ascot, very unlucky.
Ballyandy
We've just about
totally decided we'll go for the Sky Bet Supreme Novices' Hurdle. He cantered
to the last in the Betfair and quickened away nicely. We've always thought an
awful lot of him and we can't understand why he didn't do better in his first
three races but he managed to handicap himself nicely and let's go on to better
things now.
We checked his
wind, checked everything and there was nothing amiss; maybe with time, he's
just got better and better. He's got plenty of speed, he won there this time
last year and we're really looking forwards to it and hopefully we can take our
revenge on Moon Racer.
Willie Mullins
DJAKADAM
He’s in good
form. He hasn’t had any setback this year. Last year he got that nasty cut when
he ran at Cheltenham and we just had enough time. This year we’ve had a clear
run, a better run, to the Gold Cup.
It was part
of the plan all along [to miss the Irish Gold Cup] and then when I saw the date
I think it was about a week nearer this year between and I’m not sure that’s
great for the Irish Gold Cup. Whether we need to see that moved back, I don’t
know why it was so close this year.
I think he’s
more mature now. First year he was young, second year he had a bad prep. This
year everything is going right. Would he need to improve? Would last year’s run
do?
I was very
taken with his run at Christmas. We reflected afterwards that if we had used
different tactics we might’ve had a different result.
We’re happy
with where we are now and that’s the important thing. Obviously it’s more open
this year. We were 12-1 a week ago and 5-1 now, but it’s obviously been a funny
year with injuries for a lot of people.
It would be
nice to win. We’ll hope, we’ll see. I’m looking at getting there, I’m not
looking at other horses in the race. My horse has finished second in it the
last few years we just need the ball bouncing in our favour a little bit more
and it could happen.
DOUVAN
Douvan’s in
good order. Everything has gone well. At this stage we’re just trying to get
there in one piece and hope things go right as well.
He’s a
lovely relaxed individual. Holly rides him every day and they go round there at
their own pace. Just to get there and hopefully run his race.
When you go
to Cheltenham with a strong favourite it’s always relief rather than joy.
There’s a
fair bit of expectation with Douvan and you just hope it all goes alright and
he gets there. You’ve just got to try and mind them as best you can and hope
nothing stupid happens like a gust of wind frightening them and they clip into
themselves or something like that.
He’s not
there yet, but the bar keeps rising and he keeps meeting it. He’s got to win a
Champion Chase or maybe a couple of them.
Maybe we’ll
go in a different direction after that. He’s won everything we’ve asked him to
win but you’ve got to win your championship races.
I only think
every morning about keeping him sound. I've younger horses in the yard I think
might be a Champion Hurdle horse one day or a Gold Cup horse one day, but with
him I just take it day by day and try to get him to the Festival and hoping
nothing goes wrong on the day or in the race.
It's that
narrow for me with him at the moment. I think I've said what I thought about
him - that he could be the best that I've ever had - but he's a long way to go
to get there.
He's
certainly got to get past Hurricane Fly, who did what he did. The bar is
high for him.
We'd all
like to win them (championship races). I think we've been second five or six
times in the Gold Cup and we've probably had very few runners in the Champion
Chase or the Stayers' Hurdle. I'd like to tick them off if we can.
I don't
really watch the replays, but there's a few times he's given me frights and
everyone else is saying he jumped fantastic. Ruby says 'I couldn't see what you
saw on the ground when I'm on his back'.
He's so in
control and he's got the scope to get in close or stand back. He seems to have
everything. It's rare for a horse of his size to stay so sound. Usually when
they're that big, things go wrong.
LIMINI
I would say
it's 50-50 [that she is supplemented for the Champion Hurdle]. I had a chat
with Rich the other day and we both said we wouldn't chat much more until the
morning of the thing comes.
A lot
depends on how Vroum Vroum Mag goes between now and then, she's obviously in
the Mares' Hurdle. I think if she's fine and sparking, we probably might take a
punt.
I went to
Punchestown thinking 'am I mad going there'. Last year when Annie Power won it
you'd would probably have said before the race would be a schooling hurdle for
her, with what was in the race.
This year I
thought Apple's Jade wouldn't make it easy for us and maybe a hard race three
weeks before Cheltenham is not good. But I thought we'd said we were going to
run, so we probably had to turn up and I just hoped it wouldn't turn into a
race of attrition.
We thought
we'd ride the race Ruby did ride and everything just fell into place. What I
didn't think was that Limini could pull out and go past her without getting a
slap, which begs two questions - have we improved that much?
I thought
we'd improved at home, but I didn't know we'd improved that much and did
Apple's Jade run up to her form? If she did, I think we're well entitled to go
for the Champion Hurdle. Limini didn't have a hard race and pulled out of it
well.
It was not
more than she would do if we didn't go to Punchestown and took her away
somewhere. Her jumping has improved hugely from last year.
UN DE SCEAUX
The one
that’s hard to watch is Un De Sceaux. Every morning he goes out he wants to
race, he’s a bit like Hurricane Fly, he wants to be competitive. He pulls, puts
his head down and wants to get on with the job.
You worry
that he can go out there every morning and do that without pulling a muscle or
overreaching, those type of horses are harder to mind. The Ryanair is the plan
with him. Ground or no ground, that's where we are.
He won over
two and a half miles on heavy ground as a four-year-old. He could get three
miles now. He is keen but I think he’s settled a lot better than what he used
to, I think fences have settled him down, and I think his last run showed how
well he can settle.
The horse is
settling down as he gets older and I don’t think the trip will be a problem.
He’s
probably easier to ride in a race.
BLACK HERCULES is not
pleasing me, you can put a line through him.
SHANESHILL goes for the
Stayers' Hurdle. NICHOLS CANYON I'm not so sure about. He's had an
in-and-out year and I might leave him and go to Punchestown. He's in the
Champion Hurdle and the Stayers' Hurdle.
If I changed
a few things with him and he started to bounce between now and then, I might
bring him, but at the moment I could leave him at home.
VROUM VROUM MAG
I think
Vroum Vroum will go for the Mares' Hurdle. On her last performance, that's all
I can see her doing.
I’d have no
problem with her going back over fences but the hurdle programme is suiting her
better at the moment.
She was
terrible at Doncaster. But she’s coming back right, we’re much happier with
her.
I think she
was just brewing some sort of a cold and when we got home we gave her
antibiotics. I gave her an easy time, she’s had bits of work since and we’re
happier with her now she’s coming back to herself.
I don’t
think she could run in a Champion Hurdle after Doncaster. I don’t think we
could ask her any of those questions now. The mares’ hurdle is the obvious
route for her now.
I didn't get YORKHILL going over fences until Christmas
time. I thought I had the other two for the Champion Hurdle (Annie Power and
Faugheen) and I said I'd let him go chasing.
I thought
about it [going back over hurdles] for about two seconds and then I said no. I
spoke to Graham Wylie and he was thinking the same thing. We could always come
back over hurdles next year, but we'll see how he gets on in Cheltenham.
We’re going
for the JLT.
Bacardys probably did surprise me in the
Deloitte, but I was happy with the way he did it with the tactics we used.
He'll probably go for the Neptune, rather than the Albert Bartlett.
He's a horse
we did think a lot of and the Deloitte put him back on track.
INVITATION ONLY is 50-50. We
might keep him for Fairyhouse.
The obvious one for LET’S DANCE would be the mares' novice. We seem to have a few a few
nice ones for that, but at the moment I would have to say it will possibly be
the mares' novice. She's a second-season novice, which is a big help to
her.
That would
look the easiest one, but she could slot in any of the novice races and mares'
form seems to be good this year. I think the mares form is stacking up better
than the geldings form.
AIRLIE BEACH probably has
to take her on. I don't think we'd run her in the Supreme.
Warren Greatrex has nominated La Bague Au Roi as his best chance of a winner at
the Cheltenham Festival.
The Lambourn
handler took several of his team for next week to a rain-sodden Newbury on
Sunday morning, with the Trull House Stud Mares' Novices' Hurdle entrant
particularly pleasing him as she went through her paces
Alan King
Yanworth , we have had a clear run with him , he
worked nicely last Saturday and did a smashing bit of work on Tuesday morning
on the grass gallop. Returning to Cheltenham will suit him
and he is in a good Place physically and is definetly beeter for his Wincanton
win. Sceaux Royal will also run and is in good form, he ran well behind
Yanworth when 3rd at Wincanton, He has come on for that and should
run a big race.
Elgin will represent us in the Supreme, he has
run well all season and seems progressive, he has a bit to find on a couple if
they run, but is worthy of his chance, and I would be hopeful of him making the
frame.
Miss Crick, would want the ground to dry up a bit if
she is to run in the mares hurdle, she is much better on top of the ground and
we could wait for Aintree.
Winter Escape, is being aimed at
the County Hurdle.
Philip Hobbs
, Rock
The Kasbah has been in really good form since his Chepstow win, so will
run at the festival, but I am waiting to see how some of his options pan out
before deciding in which he runs
The John Torpey Memorial Trophy
March Total
Micky
00
772.4
Lee
00 737.2
Steve 00
700
Martin
00 651.9
Neil
00 601.6
Cliff
00 581
Peej
00 539.8
Tony 00 536
Cod
00 534.9
Bob
00
490.7
News
Kim Bailey
was "delighted" by the performance of The Last Samuri in defeat
at Doncaster on Saturday.
Attempting
to win the Grimthorpe Chase at Doncaster for the second successive season he
was beaten only by Brian Ellison's Definitly Red.
The Last
Samuri was running off a 12lb higher mark than last year, and having finished
second in the Grand National last April, Bailey feels he will head back to
Merseyside in the best possible shape.
"I'm
delighted with him," said Bailey.
"He has
been prepared for one race and one race only.
"It was
a far better race that he ran and won last year and he was higher in the
weights this year."
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