Nicky Henderson ready to bounce back at Cheltenham Festival 2025

By Matt Brocklebank

Horse Racing

Mon February 24, 2025 · 3w ago

Nicky Henderson stands in the Seven Barrows quadrant addressing the assembled press, many of whom have been here before and could probably do a decent job of finishing a few of his sentences.

In spite of this, when Henderson speaks, the attention remains undivided.

It’s not quite Freddie conducting the masses at Wembley; Robbie at Knebworth; Nirvana Unplugged in New York. Although Metallica’s hard-knocking vocalist with the goatee does come to mind as this old rocker effectively admits the three-week, pre-Festival swing is the time of year he’s been known to sleep with one eye open.

I’ll refrain from veering into Latin at this point, but 2024 was a horrible year alright.

“Horrendous”, according to the man himself. “We had no chance.”

"The feel he's given me is incredibly exciting!" - David Power Jockeys' Cup Pod: Sam Twiston-Davies

Just as things were supposed to be reaching a crescendo, Henderson had to pick up the phone and tell JP McManus, Michael Buckley, Joe and Marie Donnelly – plus more besides – that Jonbon, Constitution Hill, Sir Gino and plenty of others, wouldn’t be running at Cheltenham in March.

They would not be easy calls to make, and Henderson has already had to say a painful goodbye to one of those A-listers all over again, Sir Gino headed for the exit light and left scrapping “a super-bug” in the clinic rather than battling Majborough for Arkle supremacy on account of an infected leg wound that simply got out of hand.

The occasional tear drips onto Henderson’s weather-worn cheeks, but it’s certainly not all doom and gloom in Lambourn at the moment. Far from it.

Constitution Hill, this outfit’s undisputed front-man, is odds-on for the Unibet Champion Hurdle, Jonbon the same ahead of what could be his own crowning moment in the BetMGM Queen Mother Champion Chase on day two.

“It is in everybody’s best interests that we ensure we have a fit and healthy Constitution Hill to win back his crown next year,” Henderson stated after the cringeworthy red exes appeared on our social channels on March 4 last year.

Roll on 12 months and it’s not been a totally straightforward season once more, but this isn’t a normal racehorse and he’s two from two on the track. You certainly sense that while he’s fit and healthy and in full working order, every grain of sand that passes through the hourglass is a moment cherished.

“The one good thing is that he can travel off any pace,” Henderson muses while looking ahead to a potential clash with Brighterdaysahead and her pace-making stable companion King Of Kingsfield. “He can travel at very high speed, he has got bags of speed. I wouldn’t say they can go as fast as they like as that’s just sounding contentious. They will go hard, but his weapon is that he can hold that.”

Confident, then?

“The only time I’ve ever been confident about anything was Altior’s Supreme,” Henderson recalls. “It didn’t matter what Willie (Mullins) brought over that year, it wasn’t going to beat him!”

Jonbon’s a “complete fuss-pot, like chalk and cheese with Constitution Hill who I could tether to the telegraph pole here overnight and he'd be fine”, but he is also looking in A1 condition on the back of an unblemished winter campaign.

So where are the headaches this time around? What are the questions that have Henderson tossing and turning, gripping the pillow tight?

Jonbon powers clear in the Clarence House

Novice hurdlers, anyone?

They’re thin on the ground, that’s clear enough. Khrisma could run in the Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle and the well-bred Nativehill (half-brother to Bellshill) has a speculative entry in the Albert Bartlett.

“You’ve got to have fresh blood coming in but they can’t all be stars.

“Whereas in the last few years we’ve always had a Supreme horse, there isn’t. We’ve some nice novices – there’s nothing wrong with them – but they’re not superstars.”

The quality to Triumph once more?

Things are very different in the JCB Triumph Hurdle, however, a race Henderson has won a record seven times in his career. There are two significant bullets to fire here.

On the one hand you’ve a Classic-winning Flat recruit who "could win the Melbourne Cup”, the other a ready-made French import that looks a future chaser all ends up.

So which is better? Harry Hill might suggest there’s only one way to find out!!

“Lulamba could jump anyway as he’d already run over hurdles and Palladium’s jumping has always been good,” says Henderson. “Palladium is a colt but he’s got a fantastic temperament and that makes it very, very easy. He went away and did a bit of loose schooling to start with and he enjoyed that. He’s been terrific all the way through. We’ve definitely not (had a Flat horse as good as him), he’s a very high-class horse and he’s a beautiful horse. You’d take him anywhere and he’d win a prize."

Lulamba is “raw and scopey” and currently tops the antepost Triumph Hurdle market at 7/4. Palladium is 16/1 and it’s evident their trainer feels the discrepancy is too great.

A very happy Lulamba team

Is Jango Baie making up the numbers?

“Jango (Baie) and Jingko (Blue) are both too high in the handicap (for the novices’ handicap chase) – well, they’re not actually but they needed three runs and they can’t, although Jingko could if he runs in the Pendil this weekend.”

That's all clear then? No, me neither. But Jango Baie is only really running in the Arkle due to Sir Gino's absence and while those closest to him are adamant he’s not simply there to make up the numbers, it's not hard to argue to the contrary.

How do you solve a problem like… Joyeuse?

"We’ll see," the punchy response when asked if Joyeuse might be supplemented for the Mares’ Hurdle.

It’s likely “a day out in Kelso” and the Morebattle on March 1 next up for the runaway William Hurdle winner, but that doesn’t necessarily mean she won’t then be parachuted in at the Festival 10 days later. Watch this space.

Will Lucky Place see out the trip?

Lucky Place wouldn’t be the first Stayers’ Hurdle horse who was “supposed to be going chasing” before plans had to be adapted. He’s apparently not ended up going over fences due to the lack of opportunities, combined with a plethora of stablemates doing the same thing at the same time, but a last-minute decision to run in the Ascot Hurdle has turned out to be inspired.

Henderson’s admiration for the laidback six-year-old cannot be hidden, but the big conundrum is obviously concerning stamina.

“If you go there on Trials Day over three miles (Cleeve) you’re definitely going to get a hard race, so why not just trust that he stays? I trust his stamina, we’ll find out on the day," he says.

Lucky Place, ridden by Nico de Boinville, wins at Cheltenham

Which are the handicappers with chances?

There are a lot of handicappers in the shake-up it seems this year - so many in fact that a horse like Iberico Lord didn’t even get a mention. Well played, Nicky, Frank (Berry) and JP would be proud.

But Jeriko Du Reponet did get a good mention in the Pertemps, although here comes the kicker... “We could have four in that race and I rather liked Doddiethegreat’s run at Haydock on Saturday, and I liked Shanagh Bob’s at Huntingdon last month too.”

Always lots to consider after a visit to the preeminent jumping yard in Britain and although Nicky may understandably live in fear this time of year, knowing precisely what can happen at any moment, his cup - tomato soup on this bitterly cold, Monday morning - does tend to be half full most of the time.

And just like the rest of us he is, internally at least, counting down the days. Cheltenham is what helps keep him fresh, keeps him ticking, "supping from a Cabernet fountain of youth" as Graham Cunningham so joyfully put on these pages over the weekend.

Just three weeks now. Take my hand, we're off to never-never land.