Henrietta Knight sent out a Cheltenham winner who resides in the same stable previously occupied by triple Gold Cup hero Best Mate - Graham Clark has the latest.
The turn of the new year is a time for fresh starts, new beginnings and the chance to wipe the slate clean. Plenty of the 33,534 crowd at Cheltenham will have arrived at the track having made resolutions during the early hours in the hope of changing their fortunes for the better in 2025.
While horses can not make such statements, a return to winning ways is likely to have been something Chantry House, had he had two legs and not four, would have tried to make it his mission to achieve after a lengthy spell in the doldrums.
A two-time Grade One winner in his pomp, the Nicky Henderson-trained 11-year-old had, until today, seen his career take a downward spiral following three non-completions in 2022, compounded by a crashing fall in the Rowland Meyrick Chase at Wetherby.
Out of luck in seven starts back over hurdles, it looked as though his days of walking back into the winner’s enclosure were long gone, but on a day for fresh hope, and renewed vigour, Chantry House read the script to perfection. And having enjoyed a Christmas bonanza with current stable stars Constitution Hill and Sir Gino, trainer Nicky Henderson was left equally delighted by seeing one of his former leading lights return to glories of yesteryear.
Henderson said: “It has been a long time since he has won, but he has fooled us a bit there. We just let him do his own thing at home and not really pretending we are trying to train him very hard. He just does what he feels like and between us all we get the job done.
"He looked as if had been enjoying his jumping again so we decided to go back over fences. We had been schooling him on and off and he looked as if he got his confidence back again. He ran a very good race at Punchestown last season and went into the race going well and he didn’t quite finish it off so there were little glimpses of hope, but he is the sort of horse you love having around the place.”
Once upon a time Chantry House was considered a live Cheltenham Gold Cup contender, a race in which he pulled up in 2022. And while those days are long gone, a jovial Henderson joked that a second Grand National bid could be on the cards.
Henderson said: “He has run in a Gold Cup and a Grand National, and maybe now he will go and win a Grand National as we have to enter something in it! He looked like a young horse popping around there. It is just great when these old boys do come back."
For all that Henderson ended 2024 with a real bang, the first three months of last year are ones that he will have no worries in forgetting after drawing a rare blank at the Cheltenham Festival in March as his yard battled a bug. But with the team now firing on all cylinders Henderson’s own personal resolution of taking the fight to the Irish at jump racing’s most prestigious meeting in just under three months' time is starting to take shape following recent big-race wins for Constitution Hill, Jonbon and Sir Gino.
And joining that list as a lively outsider for the Stayers’ Hurdle could be Lucky Place, who secured a second Grade Two with a gutsy success in the Dornan Engineering Relkeel Hurdle.
Henderson added: “Like with all of them we had to pass the Festival last year and it was the right decision at the time and I hope for the moment that it was the right thing to do as we didn’t do any damage.
“If we ran them we could have done huge damage and none of them might have been here. The boys at home had to suffer with all of us and it wasn’t any fun, but every trainer knows it comes around and when you are up somebody else will be down.
“They are now in tip-top form and I wish Cheltenham was in a fortnight’s time as it would be great.”
There are few owners that will be more excited for what 2025 holds than Ged Mason, who has seen his squad of horses that he's in partnership with the likes of Sir Alex Ferguson and John Hales come to the fore on the track in recent weeks.
Arguably among the most exciting is Kalif Du Berlais, who enhanced his growing reputation with an effortless success in the Sonic The Hedgehog 3 In Christmas Now Novices’ Limited Handicap Chase.
But there is another name that could soon take prominence among the growing roster Mason and his close friends are building for the remainder of this campaign and seasons to come.
Mason said: “It is nice to have such quality horses. We have all been in the game for a long time. It was a fantastic display from Kalif Du Berlais as he was foot perfect. Harry just got him nicely positioned and he jumped fluently which is what you want to see.
"It is great to share these moments with friends as if you owned them outright it would be a bit boring. We’ve still got the dark horse to come out called Live Conti. He is a new one that has come over from France and is with Dan Skelton. The plan is to run here on Trials Day and he is one to watch.
“It is like buses they are all coming at once, but you have got to buy the tickets, and the horses, to put you in the frame.”
On a day of fresh optimism, looking back is not really in the spirit of things but there was a heartwarming throwback to the past as Henrietta Knight, trainer of the mighty Best Mate, saddled her first winner at the course since returning to training last year.
And while Knight was busy celebrating Motazzen winning up at Southwell, the victory of Precious Metal in the Raceridecheltenham “Junior” National Hunt Flat Race was one that marked the here and now along with remembering those magical moments in the past.
WATCH: Lilly Pinchin guides Precious Metal to victory in the Cheltenham bumper
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Brendan Powell, assistant trainer, said: “That’s a double for today as we had one at Southwell as well so that is nice. They are starting to roll a bit now.
“Since he has come over to us he has been a sweet horse to deal with. He is not flashy at home.
“It is funny as when he arrived here he was put into Best Mate’s box. He is not flashy at home, but he is an easy horse to do anything with.
“Hen has gone up to Southwell as she owns the one that won up there and I’d say she probably had a nose bleed on the way up there!"
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