Cheltenham Festival: Nicky Henderson horse-by-horse guide

Race: Unibet Champion Hurdle 

Everything’s been good. It didn’t start that well in that we had to miss the Fighting Fifth, but on the other hand we had supersubs out there, so he came in at Christmas and he’s been terrific. Funnily enough, from my point of view, I said to Sophie (his wife) before, I hated Cheltenham the other day. It absolutely killed me, because I think we went into Kempton with half a mind that he could easily get beaten and if he did we felt that if we get beaten today we’ll be alright in March and now we’ll probably find it’ll be the other way round and we won’t be alright in March! I don’t know.

He was good at Kempton. I wasn’t that fussed that day to be honest with you but jeepers creepers, Cheltenham was something else. That day absolutely did me in because it was sort of a no win situation, wasn’t it? Because unless he did something, which he did do and kept everybody on their toes anyway by trying to destroy a hurdle… that was the only result that was really any good to us. It does put the pressure on a bit, but he was great and he enjoyed himself.

Asked if he had felt that a second run of the season before The Festival in March was necessary, Henderson replied: 

No. I didn’t need to do it all because we walked away from Kempton certainly not expecting to run him again before March and had no intention of it. But we just came back and a week later he was so well in himself and bright and he looked fantastic. So, I did the opposite – I’d said ‘no we won’t’ and all of a sudden I’m the one saying ‘come on then - let’s go again’ and that surprised everybody I suspect.”

Well I hope he’s going to be absolutely spot on in March. We’ve got three weeks tomorrow. His work’s the same. I suspect Nico will have a sit on him this week just to see where he is and how he feels but I suppose he’d better jump a hurdle at some stage just to eliminate that.

You’d hardly want to go in (to the Unibet Champion Hurdle) with the last hurdle he jumped being that one (at Cheltenham in January). I don’t know what he did really. I’ve watched it a few times and it’s hard to know. I didn’t hate the race. It was just the beforehand bit. It just chews you.

The reception he received afterwards shows National Hunt racing in a great light and to be fair the crowd at Kempton were fantastic as well. I think they were pleased to see him back – weren’t we all? It’s just nice when that happens. At Cheltenham, the last time I saw that sort of crowd (to greet a winner) was in Sprinter Sacre’s day. It’s a very, very special thing. It’s just great for National Hunt racing. People do love these horses and it shows that a ‘boring’ five horse race with a 1-12 shot – to some people it’s a tragedy but for most people it was something fantastic.

It means a lot to us that people love him. We just look after him, we’re the curator of something that is a bit special and so’s the other fella (Jonbon) and it’s just great that people do like them. That’s why we did run again. We felt we rather owed it to everybody after last year, so we slotted an extra one it, just to get myself the odd brownie point.

The Willie Mullins Racing Festival (Dublin Racing Festival) didn’t tell us everything because they were going very hard that day those two (State Man and Lossiemouth), and it would have been fascinating to know what the end product would have been. It’s left more questions than answers, obviously, because one of them was going to get beaten. Where would that have left the market and the whole world – what would everybody have been thinking?

Unless they’d dead-heated one of them was no longer going to be Willie’s number one whatever happened, so now it’s inconclusive. We didn’t know what sort of Lossiemouth was going to come up in Dublin compared to Kempton. That was anybody’s guess, so they’re both still there in the wings for us to see if we can keep them at bay.

You’re certainly going to get the pace [if Brighterdaysahead runs]. The gallop will be on, one would imagine. It’s what she’s always done. It will be fascinating but we won’t have to worry about getting run away with halfway up the hill will we?

It will be very, very interesting. She’s a very good mare, they’re both very good mares and, and so is State Man. It’s a good, solid Champion Hurdle. The one good thing is that he (Constitution Hill) can travel off any pace. That pace that Lossiemouth found difficult at Kempton was of no worry to him. He can go that fast. He can travel at a very, very high speed. He has got bags of speed.

I’m not saying they can go as fast as they like as that’s just sounding contemptuous. They will go hard but I think his weapon is that he can hold that.

Race: BetMGM Queen Mother Champion Chase 

He's an entertaining character. He is a complete fusspot and can’t stand still for two minutes. He’s won eight or nine Grade Ones but only now seems to be getting the recognition.

Jonbon’s always been the same. He did nothing wrong last year apart from make one mistake, in the Clarence House when it was run at Cheltenham. It was the only thing he did wrong, apart from the fact that he couldn’t turn up at Cheltenham and that was a pity. I suppose that’s why he’s got forgotten a little bit because he wasn’t there (The Festival) last year and in all fairness the Champion Chase as it turned out wasn’t exactly an epic was it?

It went a bit flat – he wasn’t there, El Fabiolo was determined to put holes in fences so it was a bit of a flop race really and if he (Jonbon) had been there you’d have to say it might not have been the hardest race he’d ever had. But he wasn’t there so I suppose you’ve got to win the Champion Chase and then you can be a champion and he deserves to.

Race: JCB Triumph Hurdle 

Lulamba looks very good. He’s very laidback and he has a very good attitude to it. But he has only had two runs in his life. And the other horse, just the way he’s been working and everything and schooling, does he really need to? He’s done a mountain of racing. I think he might be better where he is but I don’t know, we’ll see.

I think they’re [he and Paladium] two high class horses. If you only had one you’d be happy and we’re even happier to have two.

Lulamba is a very laidback horse at home. He doesn’t behave like a baby but he’s very raw still. He’s a big scopey horse and you can easily see that jumping a fence next year like we’ve switched Sir Gino but that’s a long, long, long way away and it depends what’s going on in the world then. You can easily see him jumping a fence.

 He’s still in the clinic and he’ll be there for another week anyway. I think they’re hoping that if he stays the same for a week then we might be starting to get out of the woods, but he’s still got a way to go yet. The signs are positive because he’s stable. He’s very happy. He honestly doesn’t know – he’s in no pain or anything. They’ve just got to get this bug under control and it’s a sort of superbug that gets into them. How they get in I’ve no idea – you’d have to ask the vets. It’s bizarre and very, very rare and it can be dangerous. I think I’ve seen one before. People say they had that with such and such a horse five years ago. The outcome wasn’t always OK. It’s dangerous.

Race: County Hurdle/Coral Cup

Race: Turners’ Novices’ Hurdle

Race: Ultima Handicap Chase? 

Race: Pertemps Final

I like the way he finished his race at Haydock on Saturday. He's qualified for the Pertemps and that's where he will be heading.

Race: Coral Cup or Martin Pipe

It is hard to work out whether to go for the Coral Cup and Martin Pipe. We have nine for the Coral Cup, but it is the same nine for the Martin Pipe.

East India Express is probably the one that will stay in the Martin Pipe as Freddie (Gordon) has won on him twice and therefore it an obvious keep them together job.

I would take the credit for running him in quick succession, but the true story is that on the way to Ascot, Jerry McGrath rang me up and said why don’t you put East India Express at Kempton on Boxing Day as when it wins at Ascot he won’t get a penalty the next time. I said he won’t win at Ascot, but 'you never know,' said Jerry. That is all credit to Jerry. I would like to think he holds a solid chance as he is very well.

Race: Ultima Handicap Chase 

 Fantastic Lady won’t get into the Grand National as the handicapper has decided to drop her two pounds. The Kim Muir is a 0-145 and now she is 144 she can come into the Kim Muir.

Race: Ultima Handicap Chase? 

Race: County Hurdle

Race: Coral Cup 

We would possibly be favouring the Coral Cup with Impose Toi, but he will have an entry in the Martin Pipe as well. He has only been seen out once, but he won well. The Lanzarote was what I was chasing, but that was off. That was his race and so is the Coral Cup.

Race: My Pension Expert Arkle Novices' Chase, or Brown Advisory Novices' Chase 

He is probably a two-and-a-half mile horse, but he is more likely to come down in trip rather than go up in trip. I’m sure he would stay three miles, but they have taken the two and a half mile Grade One away just the year I want it in there! They will go a good gallop so you will need to stay.

I thought it was a really good performance from him at Sandown in the Scilly Isles. A short-head is a short-head, but that was in horrible ground. I thought he did great as he jumped beautifully and he is accurate like that. He has got the pace and better ground will suit him. We were thinking two and a half miles then going up to three miles, but then Sir Gino has left the door open from our point of view so I think this is the way we would be thinking.

Race: Pertemps Final 

I hoped Jeriko Du Reponet would go novice chasing this season, but that fell apart on day one at Sandown Park. That was nothing to do with the fences, or him jumping. He lost that race before started as he was no fit state to race and I shouldn’t have run him. He had blip and we couldn’t saddle him.

We had to bring him right back, but we had to. I think he just needs to grow up a little bit more. They were all over the top of him at Exeter and I hoped he would have been on the bridle a little bit more than he was, but he has booked his ticket to the Pertemps.

Race: Brown Advisory Novices' Chase 

Jingko Blue could go for the Pendil at the weekend (the Grade Two Ladbrokes Pendil Novices’ Chase at Kempton Park). You wouldn’t want to go to the Brown Advisory on the back of what happened at Ascot last time so he could go to Kempton although it is only over two and a half rather than three miles

Race:  Close Brothers Mares’ Hurdle? 

Race:  Ryanair Mares’ Novice Hurdle 

Race:  Ryanair Mares’ Novice Hurdle 

Race: Paddy Power Stayers’ Hurdle 

Lucky Place is high up on my list, very high. It was a problem that maybe worked in our favour – he was meant to go novice chasing - he was all schooled up and ready to go and jumped beautifully. But at the time we had a whole string of horses in a similar position and it was a question of trying to find races for all of them. Three of them finished going back over hurdles because there weren’t the opportunities for them to go over fences.

He is a very likeable, uncomplicated and straightforward horse. He is a nice horse with a great attitude and temperament. His stamina will be on trial at Cheltenham but the form of his win in the Ascot Hurdle has worked out well. We will trust that he stays and we’ll find out on the day. He is in really good order and it looks an open race.”

Race: Glenfarclas Cross-Country Chase 

He is in very good form. He is rated 144. You show me a nice little race he can win and I will run him in it, but they don’t exist.

He was doing great and he ran that fantastic race in the Grand National, but he galloped until he dropped that day. If you get down too low in the well it takes them a lot of time to get over it.

We were going to retire him, but I said to Lady Bamford we can either go hunter chasing or we can go cross-country racing and I said one of them might ignite the flame. He has run two really good races over the fences and he is full of it.

Race: Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys' Handicap Hurdle 

No Ordinary Joe takes a lot of getting ready, but we are getting somewhere near. JP (McManus) is likely to have lots of horses for both races, but we might as well do as well.

Race:  JCB Triumph Hurdle 

There are two things about the Huntingdon race. One is that the form as already turned out to be red hot and second the time was fantastic. He was six seconds faster than the other division.

Lulamba could jump anyway because he’d already run over hurdles he’s very good. Palladium was always good. With colts it’s not the easiest thing you’ll ever do but they either do or they don’t.

He’s got a fantastic temperament and that makes it very, very easy. He went away and did bit of loose schooling to start with, which we nearly always do with horses coming off the Flat and he enjoyed that. He’s been terrific all the way through.

No, definitely not. He’s a very high-class horse and a beautiful looking horse too. You’d take him anywhere and he’d win a prize. I think they’re [he and Lulamba] two high class horses. If you only had one you’d be happy and we’re even happier to have two. I don’t think Palladium will be jumping fences. I think he’ll be winning the Melbourne Cup.

Race:  Pertemps Final

Shanagh Bob was very good at Huntingdon, but he then had to have another run after that. He wasn’t as good over fences as I thought he would be, but the Pertemps will do.

Race: Turners’ Novices’ Hurdle 

Race: Fulke Walwyn Kim Muir

The lightly raced nine-year-old was having only his fifth run over fences when a keeping-on sixth at Ascot on Saturday. 

We have two potentially for the Kim Muir - Wiseguy and Fantastic Lady. I was pleased with Wiseguy on Saturday.