Nicky Henderson is “praying” Newbury can beat the cold weather and stage Saturday’s planned race meeting, so that his stable stars Altior and Champ can have their pre-Cheltenham prep-races with sufficient time to recover before next month’s Festival. The trainer said he had been scared by the sight of some impressive Willie Mullins-trained winners at last weekend’s Dublin Racing Festival and was left feeling it was all the more important to provide his Cheltenham contenders with a smooth preparation.
But Newbury is facing a difficult week, with temperatures forecast to drop to -4C at night and barely rising above freezing during the days. Frost covers are in place all around the Berkshire track but an official said: “You’d need a shift in those temperatures for those covers to be effective. We’ve done what we can and we hope for the best.”
During a Zoom press conference organised by Great British Racing, Henderson underlined the importance of Saturday’s races for Altior and Champ. “It is absolutely essential, we have got to get runs into them. There’s no doubt about that,” he said.
“Watching what we were watching last weekend in Ireland, we are going have to be very, very pencil-sharp to take on Willie’s. You can see how good the opposition is .
“I pray this weekend can go ahead because we are primed for it. It would start to get horribly close to Cheltenham and if you had anything like a hard race, the time between the two is getting short enough to recover. So it’s fingers crossed.”
If Newbury were abandoned, both races and the valuable Betfair Hurdle might be restaged somewhere else in the following seven days. It is even thought possible the entire raceday could be held over by up to eight days, if the backing of sponsors and TV coverage remained in place.
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Champ has not raced since winning at the last Festival, having been held up by a hobday operation in the autumn to help him breathe. Henderson said, in hindsight, the horse’s performance in the RSA may have shown symptoms of the problem that was discovered six months later.
“Why did he suddenly drop out in the RSA and then come back into it with such effect? You could possibly think it was breathing-related. But that’s just guesswork.
“It’s a long time since lastMarch. He had lots to learn. His jumping needed some brushing up and it’s been very good so far at home. It is exciting. He is a genuine Gold Cup contender and one is grateful to have them, lucky to have them.”
Champ still holds an entry in the Stayers Hurdle at the Festival but Henderson described that as “a very, very reserve engagement”, which could be taken up if Champ’s jumping proved a problem at Newbury.
Henderson hopes to see a better effort from Altior than when the veteran was beaten at Kempton over Christmas. “His demeanour seems better to me than it was prior to Christmas. He’s more like his old self, his work’s been good. His jumping was a little bit in the air and laboured at Kempton. Newbury will suit him better. His mind’s sharpened up quite a bit since then and we’re very happy with where he is.”
Paul Nicholls will provide the main opposition to Champ and Altior on Saurday and indicated his surprise that Champ is favourite for the Denman Chase. “Where he is at the top of the market is a bit more on reputation than what he’s achieved,” the trainer said. “He’s got to go out and do it against these Grade One warriors like Clan Des Obeaux, who’s been running in King Georges.”
Quick Guide
Chris Cook’s tips: Tuesday 10 February
Newcastle 1.30 Ad Libitum 2.00 Man Of Verve
2.30 Raise The Roof 3.00 Dragons Will Rise
3.30 Kindly 4.00 Royal Advice 4.30 Charlemaine
Wolverhampton 4.45 Treaty Of Dingle
5.15 Roman Mist 5.45 Fashion 6.15 Revolutionise
6.45 Buy Me Back 7.15 Declaring Love (nb)
7.45 Eldelbar (nap) 8.15 Kingsley Klarion
Ludlow, Sedgefield and Fontwell abandoned
Nicholls feels excuses can be made for Clan Des Obeaux’s King George effort on Boxing Day. “It didn’t quite happen. He got further behind than we really wanted. If we ran the race again, he’d probably be sat closer to Frodon.
“He got a little bit behind and then made a mistake at the first down the back. He was then on the back foot. Horses in front that weren’t travelling were coming back at him and then he made another mistake. He did really well to finish second. It’s just one of those races that didn’t work out.”