Trainer of the Quarter - Nicky Henderson | Trainer Magazine | European Trainer Article Index

Apr 5

Apr 5 Trainer of the Quarter - Nicky Henderson

PROFILE, TRM AWARDS

S INCE taking out his licence nearly 40 years ago, Lambourn-based Nicky Henderson has long been established as a trainer who can prepare horses for the major meetings. This is perhaps best exemplified by the three-time champion trainer’s record tally of 55 Cheltenham Festival winners, due in no small part to his reluctance to run horses before the meeting unless conditions are absolutely correct. The benefits of Henderson’s patient approach were ably demonstrated on several occasions at the latest Festival, including in the opening race, the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle, in which Altior returned from a 10-week break to win by a comfortable seven lengths. Henderson had thought Altior would be his best chance at the Festival, so perhaps the superb comeback performance of My Tent Or Yours in the Champion Hurdle CALPHORMINTM was more impressive from a training perspective. Originally sidelined by a tendon injury in October 2014, frustrating weather and minor issues had prevented My Tent Or Yours from returning to action on at least two occasions earlier this season, so the nine-year-old lined up in the Champion Hurdle without a prep run, after an absence of nearly two years. To then finish second in a championship race run at record pace, less than five lengths behind the superior-rated Annie Power, who clearly benefited from her 7lb mares’ allowance, was a brilliant effort by all concerned. For all that Altior and My Tent Or Yours achieved, the undoubted highlight of Seven Barrows’ Cheltenham campaign was Sprinter Sacre’s victory in the Champion Chase. As well as regaining his crown, Sprinter Sacre asserted to win from the mighty Un De Sceaux, the runaway winner of the Arkle in 2015 and previously unbeaten in all his completed chase starts. Winner of the Arkle and Champion Chase, Sprinter Sacre had drawn comparison with Henderson’s other great two-mile chaser, Remittance Man, but by the end of the 2012/13 season Henderson felt Sprinter Sacre was the best he had trained. However, the gelding’s glittering career looked in doubt when an irregular heartbeat necessitated a lengthy rest and frequent revision of race plans, later compounded by other issues when he returned to action at the start of last year. While it may come as no surprise to see a Nicky Henderson-trained winner at the Cheltenham Festival, the scale of what has been achieved in returning Sprinter Sacre to Grade 1-winning form should not be underestimated; yes, he’s a brilliant horse, but given the misfortunes he has endured, his latest win surely ranks as one of the great training performances of recent years

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