As an old Etonian ex-stockbroker with an expensive accent, at first glance Nicky Henderson can seem an almost stereotypical English racehorse trainer. But almost half-a-century of wearing that trainer’s hat makes a nonsense of cartoon cliches.. Once again, Henderson is Britain’s standard bearer going into this Cheltenham Festival.
Constitution Hill is reduced to parading before Tuesday’s Unibet Champion Hurdle, but Henderson can still have set the tone for the week ahead by then. Old Park Star is one of the favourites for the SkyBet Supreme Novice Hurdle. So is Lulamba in the Arkle. Victory for both will put meat on the bones of an argument that the home team are going to put it up to the Irish raiders this week.
A thrusting new crop of trainers headed by Dan Skelton have been making confident noises that the festival’s Anglo-Irish rivalry will be nothing like as one-sided as it has been. There’s a pep in their step. However, 41 years after the first of his 75 Cheltenham Festivalwinners, it’s still Henderson around whom much of that optimism revolves.
At 75, such longevity is remarkable. ‘Hendo’ said he might have had to quit if Constitution Hill had hurt himself in the big race. But nothing else is coming close to halting his gallop. Even deteriorating eyesight – surgery was required some years ago to prevent it getting worse – hasn’t prevented normal service at his Lambourn yard.
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“He’s still out at 6 in the morning checking gallops, checking his horses. It’s his life. It’s a vocation for him, with no signs of stopping,” says Barry Geraghty, who rode as Henderson’s number one jockey for seven seasons. “He’s a very decent man. If you look at his horses and how they perform, that’s the reflection of him. There is huge substance there, as his results over the years show.”
Only Willie Mullins (113) has trained more Cheltenham winners than Henderson, and that’s during a period of unprecedented Irish dominance. He has often been a rare competitive cross-channel element at the festival. It isn’t hard to see the competitive fire lurking behind the easy charm.
“I think the English squad is definitely stronger than previous years, so I hope between us we can raise a bit of a fight. I think we can,” Henderson said. “I hope we can stand up and do a bit better this year. I’d be very disappointed if not. Paul’s (Nicholls) got plenty, Ben (Pauling), Dan (Skelton); there are good English horses up and down the country that can try and stop the export.”
It’s very different from when Henderson first emerged as a major festival player. See You Then won the first of three Champion Hurdles in 1985. He was top trainer that year with three winners. He has won or shared that award nine times in all. Skelton, born in 1986, is the coming force in Britain. But bookmakers still rate the senior man as more likely to do better this week.
“He’s still the same as he was when I started in 2008. I finished second on Regal Exit in the Triumph Hurdle for him in 2000. He wasn’t a veteran at that stage, but he wasn’t far off it either,” says Geraghty. “He’s staunch. The most consistent trainer at the top level in England in my lifetime.”
The Irishman sold the young Constitution Hill to owner Michael Buckley and was a keen observer of the ‘will he, won’t he’ saga over the horse lining up in the Champion Hurdle following three falls in his previous four starts over flights.
“The biggest stress of all was what could have been, if things had gone wrong. He was afraid of his life of that, and you couldn’t blame him. There was massive pressure on him. The silver lining is he can look forward to having a bit of fun with him on the flat. It would have been disappointing, but it was hardly the end of the world in the scheme of things,” Geraghty adds.
The Constitution Hill furore prompted something of an Anglo-Irish divide. Many in Ireland were left bemused by the seemingly interminable debate about a horse being asked to do what he was bred and trained to do. However, even after the route of discretion wastaken, it was notable how much appreciation there was on all sides of the predicament in which Henderson found himself.
“He’s English, but he’s quite Irish too – loves the craic, is a good laugh,” says Geraghty. Unlike other English cliches, there’s always a sense of a man wearing his heart on his sleeve. There’s even an Irish family link – his maternal great-grandmother grew up near Clonfert, Co Galway.
British yards outscored their Irish counterparts 4-3 on the first day of last year’s festival. They couldn’t sustain the momentum though, and the final festival tally read 18-10. With outstanding prospects such as the Gold Cup contender Jango Baie later in the week, the Englishman, who has endured at Cheltenham like no one else, will be at the forefront of trying to change that result.
