Nicky Henderson Stable Tour: Cheltenham Festival 2024 preview including Constitution Hill and Shishkin

Nicholas John Henderson, 73 and still doing a grand impression of a six-year-old boy a week or two before his birthday. He’s grinning, grimacing and gurning all on the one breath; he’s talking calmly, then quickly, and walking about with surprising alacrity.

Here is a man positively bouncing around the hallowed Seven Barrows Stables at the prospect of what comes next, when he can unwrap his (expensively assembled) toys and go out to play on the biggest stage in jumps racing.

“State Man, who's State Man? We’ve never heard of him, have we boy? We only saw him for a minute down at the start last year,” he whispers cheekily into the quiet eyes of Constitution Hill.

Henderson, who started training the same year Grease was released, has become hopelessly devoted to saddling Cheltenham Festival winners and, since See You Then got the ball rolling in 1985, has now amassed a staggering nine Champion Hurdles, seven Arkles, seven Triumph Hurdles, six Champion Chases, five Supreme Novices, and won the race named after his late father – the Johnny Henderson Grand Annual Chase – twice for good measure.

So, it’s quite nice for the mere mortals among us to learn he still gets one or two butterflies.

“It always is a nervous time. The nerves come from the element of pressure – or responsibility that comes with it. But it’s a privilege and a pleasure. I don’t think anyone feels too sorry for me, but you’ve got to be careful what you’re doing, and you’ve got to be mindful.

“Everybody knows that Cheltenham is the end of a year’s work really, if you’re lucky enough to have those good horses.”

Henderson has often spoken of the day-one settler in the past, a winner on the Tuesday to get the team off on the front foot and dispel any residing fears of a dreaded drought.

It’s 16 years since the last time he had to face up to a winnerless week at the Festival and, given the continued support of some of the biggest and most powerful owners in the sport, you wouldn’t be laying long odds against it being another 16 to the next.

And as far as Tuesday pacifiers go, they don’t come much better equipped than Unibet Champion Hurdle favourite Constitution Hill, the seven-year-old who returns to defend his crown and already ranks among Timeform’s top-10 greatest hurdlers of all time.

But is one appearance before March really acceptable for such a star attraction of the sport, and just how serious were those mid-winter hold-ups?

“People may want more (runs in the season before Cheltenham) but they can’t have it! Because if the horse isn’t right, you can’t run it. That’s how to just get it beaten, and I don’t want to get him beaten. I’m not frightened of being beaten but if you run him when he’s wrong, then that’s how to finish a horse, not grow it.

“He did have problems (scoped badly before intended outing in Unibet Hurdle) when he was wrong, we had to leave him alone for three weeks.

“It’s obviously something you could do without, but he was very fit going into that, so you just have to give a course of antibiotics and a couple of quiet weeks. He had three different scopes and one minute he was perfectly alright, the next not, but you get this going on with all horses all season – everybody does. It’s everyday stuff to us, it’s bread and butter. It was low (severity) but that doesn’t mean you can get away with it, as if you start doing that then you start playing with fire.

“But we’re exactly where we want to be, and I’d say we’re exactly where we were this time last year. He’s, very, very professional and that’s the secret to him. His mind game is very good.

“He’s the special one at the moment but it won’t last forever, it can’t. All good things come to an end, Altior took 19 races before it came to an end and that was my fault.

“This horse has got so many wow-factors about him when he is racing that people have latched onto him, which is great but it’s still relatively early days. He’s got to go and do it again and that’s where the pressure comes in. Nothing but brilliance will satisfy the critics.”

Henderson - always generous with his time - speaks fondly of a fresh and well-looking Jonbon, Luccia and County Hurdle project Under Control (“she could go for the Morebattle at Kelso and then the bonus”). He appears unwavering in his belief that Jeriko Du Reponet is heading for the top – be it this season or next – and while acknowledging the novice chasers have not come up to scratch this term, the future looks particularly bright for Shanagh Bob (Albert Bartlett), Jingko Blue (Baring Bingham) and ace juvenile Sir Gino.

But some of the warmest words that come from the trainer’s mouth all day are reserved for Shishkin, and how much joy it would bring him were this much-fabled horse to deliver a third Boodles Cheltenham Gold Cup success for the yard, and a first together with jockey and trusted appointee, Nico de Boinville.

De Boinville, not long back to full fitness after breaking his collarbone in a fall in December, steered the novice Coneygree to a famous victory for the Bradstocks in 2015, and is almost just as well known for his role on gallant runner-up Might Bite when outstayed by a tenacious Native River in the ‘Beast from the East’ conditions of 2018.

Henderson and De Boinville had to settle for second spot again as Santini found only Al Boum Photo too strong four years ago, since when the rider has failed to get round in the past three Gold Cups - aboard Champ, Chantry House and Minella Indo (for Henry De Bromhead) last March.

Could this be the year the cards fall their way?

“Nico was virtually born and bred at Seven Barrows, part of our own production line which is lovely. He has been like a right-hand man. When he first came here he was always riding Sprinter Sacre, only for B. Geraghty to get on him, and luckily when it came round again and Sprinter was getting back he (De Boinville) rode him which was tremendous.

“But I’ve been very lucky really, as we’ve only had a handful of jockeys the whole way through since it all started. With Mick Fitz and Barry and now Nico, they’ve covered a long time between them.

“I think Shishkin was being a bit maligned really, the one day at Ascot was his fault – that was Shishkin being a silly boy – but the King George, you’ve got to give him an awful lot of credit for that whether you think he would have won or not. He put up some performance, for his first run of the year.

“So he definitely deserved it (Denman Chase win at Newbury) and it’s put him in there and up at the front end too.”

The return of cheekpieces remains a possibility but is looking more unlikely at this stage, so the only burning question remains: will he stay?

“Yes,” says the trainer quite matter-of-factly.

“At Newbury, Kempton and Aintree – his three previous runs over three miles – he was finishing very strongly. And that’s why I think he’d have come home (in front) at Kempton, he was strong.”

And finally, onto the winners. It’s what we’re all here for in the end isn’t it?

In truth, it can be quite difficult to come away from a visit to this stunning yard and not have a list as long as your arm of the horses you’d be keen to keep on side at Cheltenham. So, after much deliberation, it would appear I’ve cracked it.

‘The Hill’ aside, Sir Gino is the Henderson banker in the Triumph; Shanagh Bob has a proper chance of winning the Albert Bartlett; and Doddiethegreat - Kenny Alexander’s gelding named after Scottish rugby union hero Doddie Weir – can give his master trainer a fifth career success in the Coral Cup, provided he makes the cut of course.

There, how easy was that one might ask?

For Henderson at the Festival, it has so often been made to look like child’s play.

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