Ben Linfoot was at Kempton Park on Tuesday to do some digging into Nicky Henderson and Paul Nicholls' best handicap chances on the day the Festival weights were released.
The Cheltenham roadshow rolled into Kempton Park on Tuesday as the great and the good from Nicky Henderson’s, Paul Nicholls’ and Harry Derham’s stretched their legs on the polytrack before the handicap weights were unleashed.
Old Park Star was held up in his trio before coming through to ‘win’ his leg stretch as a Sky Bet Supreme Novices’ Hurdle favourite should, while No Drama This End looked in great order along with Tutti Quanti for a very relaxed Paul Nicholls who has clearly enjoyed some winter sun.
You can read about their headline makers in Dave Ord’s latest Festival diary piece here, while the Nicky Henderson Stable Tour is here, but my brief was to do some digging in the handicaps with all the weights now out. So here we go.
Henderson up for the Cup (jeez mate, not that one)
Sipping on half a Guinness and snacking on a large deep-fried prawn, Henderson spoke for 45 minutes about his Festival squad.
Constitution Hill, Lulamba and Old Park Star dominated the discussion, and you sense even Henderson’s love of talking about his horses was tested by Australian radio show ‘Giddy Up’ who stole him for hours the previous evening to chat a possible Melbourne Cup bid for our possible Champion Hurdle favourite.
‘Zero chance’ was how Henderson summed that project up, but one handicap he is more accustomed to targeting is the artist formerly known as the Coral Cup, currently without an announced sponsor, a race he has won four times since 2010.
He’s got four entries this year, Iberico Lord, Jingko Blue, Lucky Place and La Pinsonniere, but it looks like the first two are the ones to concentrate on after they were part of the Seven Barrows team to work around Kempton on this blue-sky morning.
Henderson, still going strong after 40 minutes of chatting about his big guns by this stage, said: “Going up in trip seemed to help Iberico Lord enormously. Don’t forget he won a Betfair Hurdle, but 2m5f helped him a lot so the Coral’s going to help him, too.
“I can’t tell you he’s improved 8lb but he’s in good form.”
Jingko Blue is a longer price than his stablemate at 20/1, but he looks an interesting outsider.
“He’s been tricky,” Henderson said. “He’s been difficult. He didn’t enjoy jumping fences as well as he ought to have done and we’ve had back problems, surgeries and all sorts, but he’s still a talented horse.
“He ran a good race at Cheltenham. He could run well off 144, that’s why he’s in here.”
Still only seven and with that good run behind Kabral Du Mathan under his belt from last time, Jingko Blue could be a big price.
Genuine doubts or poker face?
With all the Irish marks unveiled Hendo’s Jeriko Du Reponet only hardened as favourite for the Kim Muir with all the remaining 9/2 disappearing on Tuesday.
His claims are there for all to see, as he struggled last season before being stepped up in trip to three miles for the Pertemps Final where he finished second to stablemate Doddiethegreat, while he won over the same trip at Punchestown after that.
This season he has run over 2m2f, 2m4f and then 3m over fences, while he has got in the Kim Muir, over 3m2f, off the ceiling mark of 145, but has this been a season-long Henderson-JP McManus special?
“No! Absolutely not,” laughed off Henderson.
“He’s a funny horse. Nico thought he was our Arkle horse last year and we kept having to move him up in trip and move him up in trip and finally he got there, in the Pertemps and then he went to Punchestown.
“I might put cheekpieces on as I did last year.
“He’s not the most obvious one to me I must admit, but we’ll see.”
We will indeed. Especially with Inothewayurthinkin’s 2024 success in the green and gold, when sent off a pummelled 13/8 favourite, still lingering in the memory banks.
Another Jack Richards Stroll for Nicholls?
Trainers are creatures of habit and once they have found a winning formula they often try it again at the first opportunity.
Exhibit A is Nicholls and the Jack Richards Novices’ Limited Handicap Chase.
A race that returned in its new guise for the first time last year, he won it for Sir Alex Ferguson and his pals with Caldwell Potter off a mark of 146 and this year he has Caldwell Potter II in Regent’s Stroll for the same crew off a similar mark.
Nicholls said: “He’s 145, he nearly won a Grade 1 last year, only beaten by the horse [Honesty Policy] who I think could nearly win the Stayers’ Hurdle.
“It’s been the plan all season. I thought if we were anywhere near 145 it’d be a very nice mark, I’m sure he’s better than that.
“His last run at Cheltenham was a tidy run. He’d had three quick runs and I needed to get some experience into him, see if he would cope with Cheltenham. There was a lot of people there that day. If all goes right he must have a nice chance.”
While Regent’s Stroll is 7/1 favourite for the Jack Richards, stablemate Quebecois is twice that price for the Ultima but he will need a dry few weeks if he’s to step up in trip to three miles and a furlong at the Festival.
You sense Nicholls would like to go that way, though. He said: “He wouldn’t be without a chance if it wasn’t too soft.
“He wouldn’t want three miles if it was soft, however. The Ultima has always been Max’s (McNeill, co-owner) aim which is why we ran him last time. We only had the option to run him over two miles to get the fourth run to be able to be qualified.
“He’s also in the Plate and he’s also in the Jack Richards. If it was soft on the first day I may have to run him against Regent’s Stroll in the novice handicap.
“He ran well there on Trials Day, he likes Cheltenham, but he does like nice ground.”
Mullins County squad sticks out again
Indeed, the ground will be important in sorting out the final destinations for many of the handicappers, but whatever the ground is like you can be sure Willie Mullins will be well represented in the William Hill County Hurdle.
We all need to peruse the Irish marks in all the handicaps over the next few weeks with plenty to get through, but your eye is drawn to the Mullins contenders in a race he has won seven times since 2010.
Top of the shop is Anzadam off 157, just 1lb higher than his Irish mark. Would you rather run in a Champion Hurdle or a County Hurdle with him? Off 157, there have already been nibbles.
But then there is Murcia off 142, 3lb higher than her Irish mark. A Grade 1 winner at Aintree last spring, she ran well in fourth in a handicap hurdle on heavy ground at the Dublin Racing Festival and could be lobbed in for a team that won this race last year with Kargese.
Storm Heart is in there, too, off 151, 4lb higher than in Ireland, after his Red Mills success at Gowran, while Roc Dino is 7lb higher than he is in Ireland of 131 and he has entries in just about every handicap hurdle you can think of at Cheltenham.
Karbau is 4lb higher than he is in Ireland off 150, Kopeck De Mee is 2lb higher off 145, Absurde is left alone on 155, Bunting is 5lb higher off 139, and there are others.
Murcia looks the pick at this stage, but we can’t really talk County Hurdle without checking in on Dan Skelton first – and that’s Wednesday morning’s first port of call.
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