David Ord on the rise and rise of Nicky Henderson as he (the trainer) celebrates his 68th birthday plus Mendelssohn and, inevitably, Samcro.
Nicky Henderson turned 68 on Monday.
That’s an age when most are happy to turn their back on a working career and concentrate on the fun things in life.
But Henderson is having fun training the strongest team of horses he’s ever had – and hasn’t a single thought of retirement in his head.
The re-stocking at Seven Barrows grows more impressive with each passing year but even now there’s a long-term strategy. Last summer he oversaw the recruitment of a batch of three-year-old stores, horses that won’t mature and show their true potential for at least five years.
The key to this game is staying hungry – and despite the success – Henderson is ravenous.
He talked on Luck On Sunday of a half-brother to Altior who’s among the new in-take. No buttons pressed yet but the son of Milan is a “gorgeous individual”. He couldn’t be in better hands.
It’s not been plain sailing this autumn for any trainer – the dry weather meaning many of the big guns have had to patiently wait in the wings with grass gallops up and down the land inaccessible to finish the prep work.
Might Bite’s eclipse in the Betfair Chase was a jolt to the Lambourn team – and you momentarily sensed a little self doubt. Had he not been as fit as they expected? The Faringdon Road grass was still out of bounds and he was the first of the three big guns to run over successive weekends.
Buveur D’Air settled the nerves with his demolition of Samcro in the BetVictor Fighting Fifth and Altior’s surge up the hill to see off Un De Sceaux in the Sandown mud on Saturday means they head into the festive season in great spirits.
Might Bite’s rehabilitation ahead of the 32Red King George continues to please all – a scintillating schooling session last week helping to exorcise the demons that surfaced when he ran towards the first big Haydock fence in the Betfair Chase.
And bubbling below the surface the next generation are ready to step out of the shadows. Santini looked every inch a top staying chaser at Newbury, Champ is living up to his name and back-story and Adjali shot to JCB Triumph Hurdle favouritism with a scintillating Market Rasen success.
The dogs are barking ahead of a few runners this weekend too in a bumper at Warwick. In a game that’s as much about the future as the present, Henderson is ahead of the curve.
But as he raises a glass of claret to mark the passing of another year he must reflect on the irony that only two seasons after saying farewell to Sprinter Sacre with the tagline "the best I've ever trained", a horse has already emerged to threaten that status.
Altior was very good on Saturday.
Mendelssohn retired last week to Ashford Stud Kentucky for an initial fee of $35,000.
He was perhaps the most fascinating project of the whole Flat season. When he won the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf at Del Mar there was little inkling of what was to follow. But a dirt pedigree and a stunning 18 lengths-plus win in the UAE Derby at Meydan, changed all that.
All roads then led to the American Triple Crown only for those hopes to end on a sloppy Churchill Downs track on the first Saturday in May. But the seed was planted. He was to be campaigned in America – but trained in Ireland.
It clearly excited Ryan Moore who gave up a 2000 Guineas winner to be in Louisville and was Stateside for every subsequent run.
They learned more with each outing and there were definite signs in the Travers Stakes and Breeders’ Cup Classic that the pieces were starting to fit together.
It never quite happened though, pressure for early leads and the teak-tough gunslingers among the home team proved too much to overcome.
I thought the Coolmore head honchos might have been tempted to go around again next year but the lessons learned with Mendelssohn in 2018 will stand them in good stead when the next colt with the right bloodlines and tactical make-up emerges from the production line.
The Ballydoyle American Dream lives on.
Nearly got through a week without a mention of Samcro. Nearly – but not quite.
For it was interesting to see his name feature among the entries for the Long Walk Hurdle at Ascot.
Connections are adamant the plan remains the Unibet Champion Hurdle, but at least this entry suggests the possibility of going down another route is entirely closed.
It might be to chasing – given we’re now in December and he hasn’t jumped a fence in public yet – but the staying hurdle division, as has long been argued in these quarters, is there for the taking.
He’s currently 8/1 for the Sun Bets Stayers’ Hurdle with Sky Bet and his price would halve if Gordon Elliott even hinted that the step up in trip is under consideration.
But maybe he already has.