Nicky Henderson 2026 Cheltenham Festival Stable Tour
By Andy Stephens
Last Updated: Mon 2 Mar 2026
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Nicky Henderson has forgotten more about the Cheltenham Festival than most of us will ever know.
He’s trained, or helped train horses, since 1974, and has accumulated 75 winners at the meeting. No other British trainer comes close, with only Willie Mullins having achieved more.
Henderson’s tally includes a record-breaking nine triumphs in the Unibet Champion Hurdle and many believe a tenth is at his mercy a fortnight today in the shape of Constitution Hill, the brilliant 2023 winner.
But the participation of the outstanding nine-year-old remains in the balance. Sumptuous winner of his first ten races over hurdles, he has suffered heavy falls in his past three races in Britain – a sequence that began when he crashed out at the fourth last in last year’s edition of the Champion Hurdle, having missed the 2024 renewal because of ill health.
Constitution Hill’s spectacular win on the Flat at Southwell last Friday night gave us all a reminder that the showman still has plenty more to give his adoring fans.
It was a glorious absurdity: a nine-year-old Jumps' bred gelding making a belated debut on the Flat and running to a figure in the 100s despite missing a beat at the start and being unextended at the end.
It sparked scenes that Henderson says he has never experienced in his life. “It was surreal, something we will never forget,” he said at a media event arranged by The Jockey Club at Kempton Park on Tuesday.
The only problem is that it has only made the "biggest headache of my life" even worse for Henderson. Run in the Champion Hurdle, or swerve Cheltenham and stick to the Flat. A simple choice, but an impossible one was the summing up of the master of Seven Barrows.
“Realistically if he bent his knees eight times he’d win (the Champion Hurdle), he’s got to jump," adding a decision on Cheltenham will be made following a schooling session later this week.
“We’re going to do something tomorrow and then Michael and I have got to sit down, it is as simple as that. I appreciate the interest and that’s why we’ve got to make a decision,” he said.
“Absolutely everybody has an opinion. I’ve got two great piles of paper, and then all the ones from people telling me how to school him over the years! The postbox is rammed full.
“It’s 50-50, I promise you. Every day I change my mind, but we’ve got to make a decision."
He also made it sound like Constitution Hill would not be much fun on a night out: “In a funny way he is the most boring horse in the world, if you lived with him you’d lead a very boring life because he is so predicable," he said. "He has even become predictable at falling over!”
Fortunately, Henderson has plenty of other horses to occupy his mind each day, including the nine who galloped at Kempton in the morning sunshine. They were Jango Baie, Old Park Star, Jingko Blue, Hyland, Doddiethegreat, Impose Toi, Joyeuse, Iberico Lord and Bold Endeavour.
“We can walk away this morning with nine horses that still have got their hopes alive,"he said. "There were no surprises and I was pleased.
“Sometimes you've got three-milers working with two-milers. But some of them are quick three-milers and some of them are slow two-milers in their work. So, they worked together pretty good I thought.
“There was no point in having Jonbon, Lulamba and Act Of Innocence here, because they only ran two or three weeks ago. They don't need to do this. This is for the ones that haven't run for a bit of time, so they benefit more from a day out because they haven't seen outside our front garden for a bit.”
Here's what Henderson had to say about his main Cheltenham Festival contenders.
Fancy a day at the Cheltenham Festival?
Act Of Innocence
Turners Novices’ Hurdle
“Act Of Innocence, it looks as if he does stay, and this horse looks as if he's possibly got the quicker.
“I think he’s pretty smart. He’s a lovely horse. It’s a race that England can win and it’s a race that’s been dominated by the Irish so let’s try and steal one!
“I’d be surprised if stamina is the issue. Originally we thought that Act Of Innocence was the quicker of the two (Old Park Star) but they seem to have flip-flopped. One has got more tactical speed and the other has more stamina.”
Constitution Hill
Unibet Champion Hurdle
“Friday was one of the most extraordinary nights I think we will experience. I think we went home that night thinking, we've just been through something that was surreal.
“And it was followed up the next day via the Press and the television coverage and I think it's wonderful. It really has been unbelievable that a horse can create this - we're in this game because we love it.
“If that's what racing can do to other people, then we're very lucky, aren't we? I'm just in a privileged position, but I'm sitting on this guy that's now causing the biggest headache of my life.
“But that was one of the great days of my whole term in this office. Yeah. It was extraordinary.”
Asked when he will school Constitution Hill over hurdles and make a decision on whether to run him in a fortnight, he added: “Yeah, we're going to do something tomorrow. Michael (Buckley, owner) and I have then got to sit down - it is as simple as that.
“I appreciate the interest. I think that's why we've got to make a decision. But it's not simple. It's absolutely impossible… I promise you, it is 50-50. Every day, I change my mind, but I think we've got to say one way or the other.”
Jango Baie
(Boodles Cheltenham Gold Cup)
“I think he's entitled to be given a realistic chance. It was a great run here (at Kempton Park, in the Ladbrokes King George VI Chase).
“Everything's gone well. We thought we were going to run in the Denman for a bit, but in that ground, and I suppose having watched Dublin the week before and those horses getting hard races in very bad ground, sort of slightly put me off and I thought, well, wouldn't we be better coming in fresh rather than getting a race like that? Lulamba went to Newbury that day for a different reason. He needed the experience.
“He needed a race, whereas Jango Baie didn't need either. So, he's consequently come down the route of coming here today.
“He was very good at Ascot the first time, and the only thing I'd say in the King George, for a horse that's won the Arkle, he just appeared to get a little bit flat-footed turning out at the back. There was a sudden injection of pace, which had slowed down a bit, sort of mid-third, and there was a kick, and just for a moment he got caught, and then he stayed on very well at the end.
“We know he comes up the hill, and he's got the pace to win over two miles so, I think it all comes in. I'd be very disappointed and surprised, I have to say, if he doesn't stay.
“But we've got that bit of speed as well. Tactical speed that will hold him through the race. I think he ticks most boxes. He would have more speed than Bobs Worth - Bobs Worth certainly wouldn't have won an Arkle.
“Long Run was a very high-class horse, but he didn't win an Arkle. He fell in by mistake at the end of the day, didn't he? But it was great at the time. I thought Jango Baie was great today. Nico was very happy. And he just let him stride on at the end.
“He finished that very strong. He could have gone round again, to be honest with you. But we don't need that.”
Jingko Blue
He’s heading for the Coral Cup.
Jonbon
Ryanair Chase
“It depends on lots of things, really, doesn't it? Primarily, he had two quick races. Okay, they were four weeks apart, and that gives us another four weeks to Cheltenham but they were two tough races. He had big battles on his hand. He was brilliant. Testing ground, hard battles, and he bounced back for the second round.”
Asked how much of a frustration it would be if Jonbon failed to win at The Festival during his career, he replied: “Well, there you go. That would be my dearest wish - it would be awfully sad if he didn’t, after all these fantastic races. Don't forget, in all his tries at Cheltenham, he's still been second in all those big ones and that he's won two Shloers (Shloer Chase).
“There's nothing wrong with Cheltenham, but he just deserves one. It would be very sad not to have a Festival win on his epitaph. I think he's just been unlucky. I do. I really do.
“He missed the start last year (in the BetMGM Queen Mother Champion Chase) because the thing (starting tape) hit him in the face. He missed the race - finished before it started - and he still finished second. I just personally think he's unlucky.”
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Joyeuse
County Hurdle
"She ran a really good race at Ascot the other day but I have a nasty feeling she likes small fields. Perhaps they could have two divisions of the County Hurdle – one for boys and one for girls."
Khrisma
County Hurdle
"When she got beaten at Huntingdon, when she probably shouldn’t have been, she got a horrible over-reach and we had a massive rush to get another run into her at Markest Rasen. I don’t think she’s good enough for the Mares, so that’s why she’s going the handicap route."
Lulamba
The Singer Arkle Novices’ Chase
“He's good. We were all happy with Newbury. Visibly it wasn't everything early in the race that maybe everybody would have wanted to see, but that is sort of learning on the job and he did. It got him thinking a bit and he got a couple wrong.
“Nico just had to bust him up. Soon as he got that little bit of daylight, winged the second last thing, he was gone. And I just loved the way he went down to the last.
“He was proper class. So going back into novice camp, that's going to stand him in good stead, isn't it? He's still going to probably go a good lick. But again, you see, I think he's a bit, he will, I'd be surprised if he's a two-miler next season.
“I think you'll see him on the Jango Baie road. If the old two-and-a-half mile novice chase was still there, they could have just waited another couple of years before they switched it into a handicap again.
“I could see him going down the same route as Jango Baie did this year. Start at two-and-a-half in Ascot, something like that, rather than the Tingle Creek. He was really good round Sandown.”
Manlaga & Mustang Du Breuil
McCoy Contractors Juvenile Handicap Hurdle
We would not be frightened to run the pair. Manlaga doesn’t show you a lot in the morning, and wants soft ground. I took her out of the Finale at Chepstow over Christmas because it was too quick. She improved the second time.
Old Park Star
Sky Bet Supreme Novices’ Hurdle
“Just tell those friends of ours across the sea that you saw him and he's flying, and they should stay at home! He's lovely. A big baby though, isn't he? This is a horse for next year and the year after, as much as this year.
“He's got a lot of filling out to do. Watching him out there, I remember a few years ago bringing Altior here and I remember when we were doing our press day at Seven Barrows that year, and Min was the talking horse in Ireland. I just remember being mad. That was as confident as I think I've ever been in my life, that I couldn't see Altior getting beat - nothing was going to get to him where he was at that stage of his life.
“I can't say I'd say the same thing about Old Park Star at this particular moment, but I think he's lovely - he's just great. What he'd done in his last two runs was, he's been extraordinary. He must travel at some pace, because he seems to get them all in trouble a long way out.
“We rode him in behind today, not because of any other reason, probably because he's quicker of the three, and I wanted him to go and get past them, but at least he's had a gallop round behind some horses, because he hasn't seen one in his last two runs.
“I think he's got the tactical speed to be in that position, I’d be pretty sure he stays well, and he has definitely got a gear, and certainly round Haydock, which is a speedy track, it was extraordinary how one minute there were some horses on his tail, and you think, they're going rather well, and the next thing, he's just gone, and they were off the bridle and capitulated, they couldn't go with him. It was extraordinary.
“He's a very clean-winded horse, he's got a very good mind on him. I just remember Altior at that stage of his life, and we knew he was something completely different, and nothing changed for three years, did it? He was unbeatable at that stage. Yeah, I hope this, I can't believe this fellow won't be jumping fences next year. It's only occasionally when we've left, like with Constitution Hill.”
Not forgetting...
Sir Gino
"He's still at the hospital and nothing's really changed. He's going to be there for the foreseeable term. It's all to do with the infection and hopefully keeping that under control. It can still go wrong but at the moment it's all under control."
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