Nicky Henderson takes the wraps off the most expensive jumps horse ever bought at Huntingdon on Thursday when German Derby winner Palladium makes his hurdling debut.
Previously trained by Henk Grewe, the Gleneagles four-year-old is still a colt, with Henderson already talking about running him back on the Flat.
On his only outing after his Classic success, he finished last of six, beaten six lengths by Charlie Appleby’s Rebel’s Romance, but that did not stop his new connections paying a record €1.4million for his services.
His new owner, Lady Bamford, sponsors the Triumph Hurdle through construction equipment manufacturers JCB and that race is unsurprisingly on the radar in March.
Henderson said: “He schooled and worked Monday morning and he was really good.
“I’ve run out of juvenile hurdles for him. Kempton was off, so Lulamba had to switch to Ascot and I don’t want to go to Cheltenham with him first time out for obvious reasons.
“Let him start quietly and have a nice time. I don’t know if he will have a nice time, he’s got to prove it there. I fully realise that all eyes will be on him, but we’ve just got to get on and do our job.
“I don’t think I’ve had one with that price tag before, but we’re very happy with him, we’re ready to go.
“There’s no comparison at all with him and Lulamba – he’s going to be a strapping chaser, hopefully.
“We’ll have to cross the bridges as we go, Lulamba is an all-out chaser but Palladium is to go back on the Flat. We’ll have a look at the Triumph if that is suitable, but if not we’ll head back to the Flat, I’ve always thought the Hardwicke (at Royal Ascot) or something like that would be suitable.
“You have to remember, he is still a colt!”