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Nicky Henderson Stable Tour ahead of 2023-24 jumps season
Unibet ambassador Nicky Henderson provides an update on some of his leading hopes for the 2023-24 jumps season.
Between Waters
One I did not play very cleverly last year is Between Waters. I couldn’t even begin to train her until after Christmas when we managed to settle her down and relax. When she did, she didn’t show us very much. We ran her in a bumper and I should have gone hurdling with her.
She is totally different this year and is nicely settled. We have changed her routine completely and she has been very receptive to it. She is starting to work properly, behave properly and jump properly. I think she is a different mare and I think could show us what we were hoping to see last year.
Call Me Lord
He had a fantastic season last year. He was incredibly consistent, he won races and he should have won another at Sandown. He was in great form all season and he is looking great at the moment.
Call The Dance
She won her bumper at Southwell and so she will get on and go over hurdles. She does everything right. She goes very nicely and is very straightforward, she is a sweet filly.
Champ
He will be going for staying races over hurdles. We have always thought that Champ is very good fresh - he won first time out after a long break last season - so he could go straight to the Long Walk Hurdle at Ascot.
Chantry House
He is in good form, I’m really pleased with him. He had a horrible fall at Wetherby last season, fracturing a little bone in his neck. It was easily mended and didn’t need any restructuring. He seems well and he has schooled well. I wouldn’t mind starting him in a hurdle race.
He looked good when he won the Cotswold Chase the year before and then things went wrong. I think he looks really well at the moment.
Choccablocc
Choccabloc we like. He’s quite forward and he is not far off a run. He’s schooled very nicely and has been working well. He won his bumper and I’m looking forward to him.
City Chief
He is not the biggest horse in the world but he’s always jumped very well and he stays very well. He’s on the shortlist for the Grand National.
Constitution Hill
It was a unanimous decision to stay over hurdles. The only point of going chasing was if you thought he could win a Gold Cup. He would jump fences, there was not a worry about that, it was just weather he would stay the Gold Cup trip and I think we all agreed he wouldn’t. If you can go around breaking course records over two miles, you are unlikely to stay three miles and two furlongs.
There’s no point going chasing over two miles. It wasn’t going to achieve anything, and you end up with the Arkle instead of the Unibet Champion Hurdle as your objective. There was nothing to be gained.
We are likely to see him kick off at Newcastle in the Fighting Fifth. He is just starting to wake up a little bit as we start to do some sharper work. He has got bulkier. He is muscling up and you could see that coming out in his work as it builds up. He’s getting sharper, keener and looking more like a racehorse. He’s very laid back about the whole thing.
Doddiethegreat
He won a novice hurdle at Kempton and he struck into himself. It was a bad injury and he had to have a year off. He came into training last year for the second half of the season and he was ready to run but the ground dried up quickly. We still got a good three months’ work into him so it is not as though he is coming back just starting after the injury. He had a good Spring preparation and only went out in the field for three to four weeks.
He belongs to Kenny Alexander and his great mate was Doddie Weir. Consequently, we have Doddiethegreat and everything he earns goes to the Doddie Weir foundation. Doddie has sadly died but his name lives on through the foundation and the horse. He could just be a very good horse, I think he has a big future. He is a chaser in the making.
Donwave
He is a very solid horse. He has won a race in Paris and looks a really likeable individual. He will stay over hurdles.
Dusart
I was never happy with him last season. He went missing without permission. The only time I saw him and thought he looked as though he was coming back to himself was in the Scottish National at the end of the season. It was the first time he had jumped and travelled through a race, and then he got knocked over going down the back straight. It looked more like him, but before that he wasn’t doing anything.
He looks in cracking form at the moment so it’s fingers crossed. He might just have crossed the road and things are coming right again. I hope so, he’s a good horse.
East India Express
He surprised me last season. I thought he was alright but we ran two in the bumper at Kempton, Nico rode Iolaos Du Mou and got a bit of a shock when Sam Twiston-Davies and East India Express came out of the pack like a bullet to completely run away with the race.
Unfortunately, when he came home from Kempton he got a cough straight after and it took him a long time to get rid of it. We just turned him out and he never ran again. He has schooled over hurdles and is ready to go.
Fantastic Lady
She was second in the Topham Chase and she loves it at Aintree. She will probably go back there for the Grand Sefton in November. She could go to the Cross-Country race at Cheltenham after that to see how far she would stay. If we find she stays four miles, then it’s obvious what to do but she would be in danger of missing the cut for the Grand National. She is another who would need to go up in the handicap.
Floating Line
I like her a lot. She hasn’t been with us very long but she’s a beautifully bred mare. She had one run in a bumper before she came to us at Fakenham where she was second. I would think she has grown up a fair bit since then.
Gentleman’s Relish
I thought he would run really well in a bumper at Newbury last season and he actually ran a shocker. It was horrible ground but he was never travelling at all. I don’t know why, we thought he’d run really well.
I would suggest with him that we may give him another run in a bumper. He can’t have had a good experience at Newbury and I don’t want to complicate things by chucking hurdles into the mix when we need the horse to show us what he can do first. He is a big, strong horse and he will want a galloping track. He is working away at the moment and he will have one more run in a bumper before he goes hurdling.
Iberico Lord
He came from the French bumper scene which has been very successful. Charlie Swan buys these for JP McManus. He’s down at all the provincial tracks spotting talent. He buys some really nice horses and both Iberico Lord and Impose Toi came over last year. I think they both have big futures.
Immortal
He has only had two runs and been second both times, both of those efforts came at Sandown. He was a big baby and is a gorgeous-looking horse. He moves beautifully and has great balance and presence. I love him.
Impose Toi
He is an extraordinary horse because he shows absolutely zero at home. Consequently, on his first run I ran him over a trip because I thought he was slow. That was a massive mistake as he ran far too free. We dropped him back to two miles next time and he duly won. He’s a very nice horse. I would think he will stay over hurdles.
Jeriko Du Reponet
He hasn’t been here very long. He is a gorgeous-looking horse. He won his point-to-point in the North of Ireland. He catches your eye every day, you can’t help but notice him. I haven’t done any more than canter with him. He looks the right sort of horse to me.
Bumpers are great in the Spring for the young horses to have an educational run. I’m not necessarily so in favour of them at this time of the year. If they’ve been in a point-to-point I’m much more in favour of them getting on with the proper job. They’ve got to get their experience over hurdles in order to get somewhere later in the season. I’m more inclined to go straight over hurdles.
Jet Powered
He obviously had a problem on his last run for us at Newbury in December and hopefully we’ve ironed that out. He is back in work and is potentially a good horse. He’s in that nasty position where he’s only had two runs over hurdles but isn’t a novice. It’s not going to be easy. I suspect you could go chasing with him. He goes well at home.
Jonbon
We will start over two miles. I am still toying with the idea of the Shloer Chase at Cheltenham in November. I originally thought that comes close enough to the Tingle Creek at the beginning of December, but if you go back to last year, he had three quick races and one quick return from Aintree to the Celebration Chase at Sandown, which was probably his best performance.
We can at least start over two miles and if we have to go up we can go up. I definitely thought after the Arkle at Cheltenham he wanted to go another half-mile. The plan was to go over two miles and four furlongs at Aintree, but the two miles novice chase was just an easier race, so we left him at two miles for Aintree where he was really good. It was a very un-Seven Barrows like ploy to bring him out thirteen days later into a Grade One against the older horses in the Celebration Chase at Sandown.
I take nothing away from El Fabiolo but I certainly don’t think we were at our best at Cheltenham. He jumped nowhere near as well as he did at Sandown.
Joyeuse
We had her last year actually and she was quite backward and had niggly little issues. She’s perked up quite a lot and looks a different animal altogether now. She looks much sharper and I’m looking forward to seeing her. I’m sure she wants cut in the ground so I wouldn’t be in a great rush but she looks as if she has come on leaps and bounds.
Kintail
I think it was a good race he won at Warwick. We had the third in that race called Ideal Des Bordes. There were three of them that finished a long way clear. Kintail had the benefit of a run but it was a tidy performance. He’s beautifully bred and he jumps well. He’s all ready to go.
Luccia
She was unlucky at Aintree in the Top Novices' Hurdle. The disappointing thing about Cheltenham this year is that I thought we had a very strong bunch of mares in both the Mares Novices’ Hurdle and the Mares Hurdle itself. It didn’t really work out but they’ve all come back and done the right thing since, so we’ll just put a line through that and do it all again.
She’s done a couple of bits of work. We had an idea of running her on the flat, and I wouldn’t rule it out but I think that will be one for the Spring.
Marie’s Rock
We always had one aim last season which was the Mares’ Hurdle. That didn’t really work but she was very impressive before that on New Year’s Day over two miles and five furlongs. She proved she stays three miles at Aintree and I think she will definitely be going over three miles this season. I’d say she’ll go for the Long Distance Hurdle at Newbury at the beginning of December.
Mister Coffey
He won’t get in the Grand National as it stands with the reduced field size, so we have to concentrate on going up in the handicap. He needs to go up three to four pounds. He wants soft ground so we’re not exactly rushing and he stays very well. If we were going to get in to the Grand National, I think we would cut out the Cheltenham Festival.
He’s got all the experience in the world. The first thing we need to do is to try and win a race because he hasn’t won one yet.
Montecam
We gave him a couple of runs last season when he was very weak. He’s came back in a much stronger individual. He really does look the part. He goes nicely, he did a bit of work and it was better than anything he showed us last year. I think he will go straight over hurdles, he jumps very well.
No Ordinary Joe
He ran a great race in the Martin Pipe. He is a useful fella. He ought to be jumping a fence this time.
Owl
You won’t see much of her this season because she is only a National Hunt 3yo. She is the most beautiful thing you’ve ever seen. She is out of a mare called Petticoat Tails who sadly died not long ago. We bought her in the May sale at Doncaster. If you wanted to see a seriously good looking horse I would choose her to be the model. If it had two legs you’d fancy it something rotten!
Pawapuri
She ran a very good race in the Adonis at Kempton. She was bang there at the second last hurdle. She’s got the experience and is now ready to get on with the job properly. She’s a lovely, big, strong mare. She’s won a couple of races on the flat. She’s a talented mare with loads of scope.
Pentland Hills
He went AWOL last year. He came back in and his coat looked awful, we couldn’t get it to look right. On his first run back we ran him in a flat race because he’s so lowly rated on the flat which he won, albeit only narrowly for a horse who appeared to have three stone in hand. He looks a different kettle of fish altogether this time. Let’s hope he’s put all that behind him.
He’ll run over hurdles for the time being. It’s not as easy when you’re rated as high as he is.
Persian Time
He’s going to go chasing. He’s already schooled and was very good. He’s a strong traveller.
Russian Ruler
He will go over fences, that’s the plan. It took him a bit of time to win a race last year but we got that done. There was a lot of conjecture over what his ideal trip is. It might only be two miles, it was two miles and four furlongs at Newbury when he looked home and hosed then just got caught. We will probably start over two miles.
Shanagh Bob
He disappointed me a bit last season. He’s coming into himself now and he’ll go straight over hurdles and probably over a bit of a trip as well.
Shishkin
Our only objective at the moment with Shishkin is the King George at Kempton on Boxing Day. That’ll tell us where to go after that. We started the season last year thinking we were a two-miler in the Tingle Creek. It blatantly wasn’t the case and when we upped him to two miles and five furlongs at Ascot he couldn’t have been better. He got beaten in the Ryanair Chase so we upped him again to three miles at Aintree, where he was very good, and that’s how he’ll start his campaign. I would think the Betfair Chase is the most likely starting point. He wouldn’t be ready for the Charlie Hall, so I should think it will be Haydock.
In the Tingle Creek it looked as though they were always going a stride faster than he wanted to, whereas, at Ascot he was always travelling. There was even a moment at Aintree where it didn’t look like it was going to happen and stamina really did kick in. Ahoy Senor isn’t a bad yardstick, he made it a good test of stamina and that’s obviously what we’ve got.
Sir Gino
He is a three-year-old juvenile who has had one run in France at Auteuil in a race called the ‘Prix Wild Monarch’. It is a race for unraced three-year-olds over hurdles. Historically it’s been won by a lot of good horses. He won and I think it was a good heat. Willie Mullins has bought the second. He is a fine looking three-year-old and I’m hopeful he will be out before Christmas. I hope he will be exciting.
Southoftheborder
We bought him in a sale at Sandown after he had won a point-to-point for Derek O’Connor. We gave him one run in a bumper at Ffos Las and he won really nicely. He is ready to go straight over hurdles and everybody likes him.
Steal A March
He has had a lovely summer at Sandringham and he looks very big and well. He had a bit of treatment to his back and looks great. It was a pity we missed the Pertemps Hurdle Final because we got nicely qualified. He had got a good weight and I was quite excited about him. I would think we will go down the same road to try and get him qualified to have another crack at it.
The Carpenter
He will definitely go novice chasing. He has got ‘chaser’ written all over him. He had three runs and won all three of them last season. He was impressive on each occasion. He hasn’t seen a fence yet. He came in late and needed quite a bit of work done to him to get him back in shape so he is a bit behind. He wouldn’t mind a bit of soft ground. I should think it will be December before he’s ready.
Theatre Glory
The Mares Hurdle will be the objective. There are some good races on the way, and I think there’s a good handicap in her.
Under Control
She probably didn’t know enough at Cheltenham in the Mares' Novices' Hurdle. She’d only had a couple of runs and had been very impressive. She came out at the end of the season at Sandown and won that valuable novice hurdle. Two of our new recruits last year (Under Control and Iberico Lord) finished in first and second. I’m hoping they’re both going to progress. She’s an absolute sweetie, she’s not the biggest but she’s effective.
Willmount
I did not know much about Willmount but we were looking at the Derby sale and I’d rather taken a shine to a filly. Everybody said ‘You’ve got to buy that filly, her brother is seriously good.’ What I didn’t realise was that the brother who is ‘seriously good’ has also pitched up here at Seven Barrows. I bought this filly on the grounds that if Willmount is as good as they say he is, I am going to be sitting with his sister here who will hopefully be worth a fortune.
We’ve only just started with Willmount, he did his first piece of work on Saturday. He’s a lovely looking horse.
Walking On Air
He is a lovely horse. We were always going for the Pertemps Network Final at the Cheltenham Festival last year. He is a horse who had no luck at all last season on the important days. In the Pertemps Network Final he had no luck and couldn’t get out. We went to Punchestown for a valuable three mile hurdle race and he jumped like an aeroplane the whole way round, then smashed the third last hurdle and did the same to the second last. He’s schooled over fences and been very good, so fingers crossed.
Wiseguy
I like him. He’s schooled for novice chasing and is ready to go. I think we will have a lot of fun with him.
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