Tag Archive for: Sir Gino

‘Getting the adrenaline going’ will do Constitution Hill good, says De Boinville

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Nico de Boinville is looking forward to “getting the adrenaline going” with Constitution Hill when he returns to Kempton Park for a racecourse gallop on Tuesday.

National Hunt racing’s pre-eminent superstar blew out in a pre-Champion Hurdle workout at the Sunbury circuit 12 months ago and ultimately missed the Cheltenham Festival and the rest of the season.

He has returned seemingly as good as ever this season, beating top-class mare Lossiemouth on his Christmas Hurdle comeback at Kempton on Boxing Day before surviving a final-flight error to saunter to success in the Unibet Hurdle on Cheltenham Trials day last month.

De Boinville is not expecting fireworks from the Nicky Henderson-trained eight-year-old at Kempton this week, but hopes the exercise will put him spot on for his return to the Cotswolds a fortnight later.

“I don’t think it’s going to necessarily be a piece of work, it’s more of an away day I’d say rather than anything blistering,” the jockey said on Racing TV’s Luck on Sunday programme.

“I think it’s just getting him on a racecourse, getting the blood up a bit and getting the adrenaline going. We’ll see what happens.

“Last year showed us what not to do, every single racecourse gallop that he has had, although to the eye might not have looked spectacular, it has shown us something and we’ve learned a lot from it.”

De Boinville will be praying last year’s “gut-wrenching” experience at Kempton is not repeated, adding: “As soon as I turned in and I went to push the button and the button was broken, it was just a case of stopping him and getting the vets in and seeing what was going on.

“That was pretty gut-wrenching and on the day you had all the press around you and cameras everywhere. You just want to get out of there.

“We’re confident we can get him where we need to be going. I think he’s in good order, he’s come through each test we’ve given him this season really well and I think he keeps pushing forward.

“We’re very happy where we are, hopefully Tuesday will bring him on again and then we should be there.”

Sir Gino in action at Kempton
Sir Gino in action at Kempton (Zac Goodwin/PA)

The rider also provided an upbeat bulletin on the hugely talented Sir Gino’s recovery from a leg injury which became infected and left him in hospital.

After standing in for Constitution Hill to win the Fighting Fifth at Newcastle in November, the five-year-old was spectacular when defeating Ballyburn in the Wayward Lad Novices’ Chase at Kempton over Christmas and would have been hot favourite for the Arkle.

De Boinville said: “He’s still having the best care with the vets and they’re just making sure that he comes out the other side of the storm.

“The storm is dying down. It’s hard to take, but that is horses.”



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‘Positive’ signs as Sir Gino continues infection battle

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Sir Gino’s condition remains stable as he continues to be treated by specialists at Donnington Grove Equine Hospital.

Nicky Henderson described the issue as a “superbug” which has compromised his recovery from what initially seemed a small setback.

Other horses struck down by something similar have not always made a full recovery, so Henderson is hoping his recuperation continues to go in the right direction.

“He’s still in the clinic and he’ll be there for another week anyway. I think they’re hoping that if he stays the same for another week, we might be starting to come out of the woods, but he’s got a way to go yet,” said Henderson.

“The signs are positive because he’s stable and he is where he is. He’s very happy and he’s in no pain or anything, but they’ve got to get this sort of superbug under control.

“It’s bizarre and very, very rare, but it can be very dangerous. I think I’ve seen one with a similar thing before, but a lot of people say they’ve had such and such a horse five years ago and the outcome wasn’t always OK.”



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Sir Gino ‘bright and comfortable’ as recuperation continues

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Sir Gino is “bright and comfortable” as he remains at Donnington Grove Equine Hospital following the hind leg infection that has forced him to sit out the rest of the season.

The five-year-old was one of the great British hopes for the Cheltenham Festival after making a flawless start to his chasing career when landing the Wayward Lad by a huge margin just after Christmas.

His prior hurdling form was something special too, meaning the hind leg wound that initially ruled him out of the Game Spirit and then the season entirely was a huge blow to Nicky Henderson’s team.

What initially seemed a small wound developed into an infection that reached the ligaments in his leg, and the affliction has required specialist treatment.

Sir Gino is still at Donnington Grove and has been visited by Henderson and his wife Sophie, with the trainer saying via X: “Sophie and I went to see Sir Gino yesterday afternoon and he seemed very pleased to see us, mainly due to the carrots. But I have to say he was very bright and comfortable.

“To be fair the situation has not changed at all but that is essentially good news.

“We obviously hope this can be maintained over the next week or so. The veterinary team plan to scan him again tomorrow which will of course be interesting.

“He was allowed to take a few steps and he was definitely sound which is always encouraging.”



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Henderson hoping Sir Gino will still become ‘one of the greats’

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Nicky Henderson is thankful for the well wishes as Sir Gino’s treatment continues following the hind leg infection that has ruled him out for the rest of the season.

The five-year-old is unbeaten in six starts and was widely regarded as the horse to beat in the Arkle at the Cheltenham Festival after his superb chasing debut in the Wayward Lad.

Prior to that, he had stepped into the shoes left vacant by stablemate Constitution Hill to stroll to victory in the Fighting Fifth Hurdle, but with the latter horse clearly firing on all cylinders again, the way was clear for Sir Gino to thrive in his novice chasing career.

Those plans were firstly stalled when a small wound ruled him out of his intended run in the Game Spirit on Saturday, and the situation worsened from then on, with the gelding admitted to Donnington Grove Equine Hospital with an infection in the ligaments of the affected hind leg.

The treatment will rule him out of the remainder of the campaign and he will require extensive veterinary care, but those providing it are pleased with how he is responding so far.

“He’s doing OK, he’s still in what they would call intensive care,” said Henderson.

“He’s on his medication and they’re pleased with how it went yesterday.

“It’s not like he’s had to have any surgery or anything like that, he’s doing OK.”

The trainer added: “Firstly, we would just like to say thank you for the absolutely amazing amount of well wishes following Sir Gino’s setback and admittance to the equine hospital.

“It has been overwhelming that any horse could cause as much sentiment and it is much appreciated by us all.

“Sir Gino remains under treatment and the veterinary team were pleased with how that went yesterday. The situation does remain critical but he is comfortable and eating remarkably well under the circumstances.

“The medical attention will be ongoing for the foreseeable future and he is in the very best hands. He has the potential to be one of the greats and hopefully, with all fingers and toes crossed, he still will be.”



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Sir Gino ruled out for remainder of the season

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Sir Gino has been ruled out for the rest of the season, trainer Nicky Henderson has announced.

The five-year-old was forced to miss an intended run at Newbury on Saturday with what was described as a “small wound” on a hind leg, but that injury has now become infected and Sir Gino is being treated in an equine hospital.

In a statement on X, Henderson said: “Unfortunately Sir Gino’s situation has deteriorated somewhat and he has been admitted to the equine hospital.

“As a result of initial examinations at Donnington Grove, an infection has invaded the ligaments in his near hind leg.

“This will require lengthy treatment that will sadly rule him out of any further racing this season.

“This is a dreadful blow to Joe and Marie Donnelly and everybody at Seven Barrows, but we will be doing everything possible to help this incredible bright light back to full fitness next season.”

Sir Gino won all three of his juvenile hurdle runs last term, although he missed the Cheltenham Festival due to the health issues Henderson’s string had been suffering with at that point.

He had been booked to go over fences straight away this term, but with Constitution Hill not ready in time for the Fighting Fifth Hurdle at Newcastle, Sir Gino stepped into his stablemate’s shoes to win the Grade One easily.

With the former champion back in action at Christmas, Sir Gino was then sent over the bigger obstacles at Kempton in the Wayward Lad Novices’ Chase, where he clashed with Ballyburn, last season’s leading novice hurdler.

He made Willie Mullins’ charge look decidedly pedestrian though, winning as he liked – and he was immediately made an odds-on favourite for the Arkle.

Henderson was keen to get more experience into him against more established chasers at Newbury but when he missed that opportunity, his biggest conundrum was which race to send him to.

However, that decision has been taken out of his hands, with the situation worse than first feared.

Dublin Racing Festival 2025 – Day One – Leopardstown Racecourse
Majborough is now a hot favourite for the Arkle (Damien Eagers/PA).

His clash with Majborough in the Arkle looked set to be one of the highlights of the Cheltenham Festival but that will now have to wait, with that rival cut to as low as 8-15 for the novice event with Coral.

Saturday’s Kingmaker Novices’ Chase winner L’Eau Du Sud is next best at 5-1.

“The premature end to Sir Gino’s season will come as a huge disappointment to not just his connections, but also to racing fans, as he would undoubtedly have been one of the headline acts at next month’s Cheltenham Festival,” said Coral’s David Stevens.

“In his absence, Majborough is now the odds-on favourite for the Arkle, with L’Eau Du Sud cut to 5-1 (from 9-1) second favourite, and Mistergif another big mover, into 8-1 (from 20-1).”



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Monday Musings: Remembering the Aga Khan

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The news that H H the Aga Khan, head of the Nizari Ismaili Muslim sect, had died last week thrust me back more than 30 years, writes Tony Stafford. At the time I was scrabbling around trying to buy cheap horses, usually those that didn’t reach their reserves at the conclusion of the Tattersalls’ Horses in Training sale.

In those days, my targets were Cheveley Park Stud, usually well-bred fillies that didn’t measure up to their demanding requirements and would go privately for £500, or the Aga Khan detritus that it would be too costly to send back to either France or Ireland with nobody other than me wanting them. To be fair, the Cheveley Park ones were rarely much good!

I say detritus, but M. Drion, the Aga Khan’s manager, called them “boucher” (butcher) horses, so if I didn’t step in, they would be destined for the dinner tables of continental Europe. Once or twice, both targeted operations even gave them away.

While not a freebie, one such was Karaylar, a son of the Aga Khan’s Derby winner Kahyasi out of a mare by brilliant broodmare sire Habitat. He had been with John Oxx in Ireland, but the trainer of Sinndar, another Derby winner for the owner, hadn’t managed to get him on the track.

I spoke to His Highness by telephone having got the number from M. Drion. He agreed £500 and the cash was duly handed over. He called him a “boucher” horse, too!

At the time, I was regularly passing on my “finds” to Northumberland owner David Batey. In a few years he had done so well that he had a video made up of his “first” 25 winners. Most had cost buttons whereas only the last, bought from Brian Meehan as a 2yo at Doncaster sales for £14,000, was not my discovery. The winners had all been trained by my friend Wilf Storey.

I can only imagine the rage building up in the mercurial owner as 3yo Karaylar ran last of 11 first time on the flat and then, in the always well-populated novice hurdles in the north at the time, 16th of 20, 15th of 20 and, to finish the job, 19th of 21.

That brought him an initial mark of 64. Wilf and I always in our deliberations used to reckon on one run to confirm the rating and then go to work. Fourth in his first handicap, he then won a John Wade-sponsored selling handicap hurdle, at Sedgefield. That was a qualifier for the final also at Sedgefield on a Friday night early in May.

I can remember exactly where I watched it but have no idea where I had been earlier for me to be in that place. It was a betting shop in Bishop’s Stortford town centre. Karaylar started the 9/4 favourite and in a field of 16 won as he liked by five lengths under Richie McGrath, who had also been on him for the previous win.

What marked that race as special was its prize - £7,000, for a seller! Just a four-year-old, we thought Karaylar was going places – he did, rapidly downhill, never winning another race.

Mr Batey was also the beneficiary of another Wilf winner ridden by McGrath in his 7lb claiming days. That was Cheltenham Festival long-distance hurdle scorer Great Easeby, bought unraced for 2k from the owner-breeder Robert Sangster. A son of Caerleon, he was acquired in a very comfortable negotiation, sent to Wilf and won seven races between the flat and jumps.

Our association (not with Wilf) suddenly ended allegedly because the owner found out I had made a small profit on one of the deals. His success rate dropped almost to nothing once he stopped sending horses to Grange Farm, Muggleswick.

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The Aga Khan was the third member of his family to make a massive impact on thoroughbred racing and, equally, breeding. His grandfather, also the Aga Khan, owned the famous flying filly Mumtaz Mahal in the 1920s and was prominent in racing until his death in 1957.

His son Prince Aly Khan kept the family horse racing business going, while at the same living a film star lifestyle,  especially when he married the actress Rita Hayworth. He died in a car crash, having already been passed over for the title of Aga Khan by his father who thought his son Prince Karim, as he was, would be a more suitable leader. For almost seven decades, he fulfilled the role with great skill and was reckoned as long ago as 2014 to having a fortune of $13 billion by Vanity Fair.

For racing fans, his green and red colours have been a constant even though he had refused to have them trained in the UK for a long time, relying on Ireland and France. He had countless champions in his time; for me, though, it’s always been Karaylar!

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How frustrating that a week after the Dublin Racing Festival, one of the two biggest stars of the UK team shaping up to see off the Irish challenge at Cheltenham was unable to run in his warm-up race.

Sir Gino, flawless over hurdles, the latest time when deputising for the country’s number one, Constitution Hill, in the Fighting Fifth Hurdle and then spectacularly proficient first time over fences at Kempton over Christmas was the absentee. Many had travelled expecting to see him at Newbury, but a cut leg ruled him out of the Game Spirit Chase.

The Nicky Henderson horse was forced to miss the Triumph Hurdle at last year’s Festival and now will be going into the Arkle Challenge Trophy – if he gets there, that is – with only one run over fences behind him, unless Nicky sends him either to Kempton or Bangor as has been mooted.

Of course, waiting to pounce is Willie Mullins with his smart 5yo Majborough, winner of that Triumph Hurdle and unbeaten since in his two runs over fences. He looked last week in winning the Irish Arkle Novice Chase at Leopardstown that he still had a bit to learn about jumping fences. When Sir Gino won at Kempton, you could have thought you were watching a horse that had won ten races over fences, let alone had never run over them before. After all, it was Ballyburn that he was putting back in his box, a horse who all through last season and again at the Dublin Festival, looked like a future Gold Cup winner.

Henderson did have something to smile about on the Newbury card, the mare Joyeuse cantering away with the William Hill Handicap Hurdle and its £87k first prize in the colours of J P McManus. Only a 9/2 shot, the success was therefore expected in some parts but a glance at her earlier career did not present her with the most obvious of chances.

She won her only race in France, a 1m4f AQPS maiden as a 3yo by three parts of a length. The venue? Another of those French tracks where they probably mark out the rails the night before. For the record it was at Paray-le-Mondial, a track and indeed town I’d never heard of; but, in fairness, even those venues that race only once a year are always immaculately presented. Paray-le-Mondial is in the east of France, for the record, about 80 miles northnorthwest of Lyon.

The run was enough to secure a price of €235,000 soon after from the all-seeing McManus talent-scouting operation. Henderson took his time before sending her out for the first run from Lambourn, at Taunton in January last year and she won by half a length.

Two placed efforts in just over three weeks in November and December earned her an initial handicap rating of 123. The way she accelerated away – once favourite Secret Squirrel fell when still right in the argument at the last flight, suggested she wouldn’t have been far away off 143!

The McManus team from Ireland and the UK will be feared as usual next month but a quirk of the altered regulations for Cheltenham’s handicaps means Joyeuse is ineligible for any of them, and she isn’t a novice either. Aintree here she comes, no doubt.

 - TS



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Henderson left frustrated as Sir Gino recovery stalls

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Nicky Henderson is not ruling out the possibility of heading straight to the Cheltenham Festival with Sir Gino, after revealing his star novice chaser’s recovery from a minor setback was not going as well as hoped on Sunday morning.

A brilliant winner of the Wayward Lad Novices’ Chase at Kempton, the five-year-old was due to have his second run over fences in the Game Spirit Chase at Newbury on Saturday, a race won by former Seven Barrows stars Altior and Sprinter Sacre en-route to landing the Arkle at Cheltenham.

However, Sir Gino was declared a non-runner on Friday after suffering what his trainer described as a “small wound to the inside of his near hind leg”.

Speaking at Newbury on Saturday, Henderson was optimistic his charge would be able to start riding out again on Monday, but that now appears unlikely.

“He wasn’t quite as good as I would have hoped this morning, I must admit. He’s still a bit sore,” the trainer said on Racing TV’s Luck on Sunday programme.

“It is (a flesh wound) and it’s just got a little infection in it and we’re just treating it.

“I’m a bit disappointed this morning, I’ve got to admit, there’s no point in saying anything else. I hoped we might even be riding him tomorrow (Monday) and just now that doesn’t look quite so likely, but we will keep everybody posted.”

Sir Gino’s pre-Festival programme is complicated by the fact that having missed Newbury, there is not an ideal race in the meantime.

Stretching out to two and a half miles for Kempton’s Pendil Novices’ Chase on February 22 is an option, as is a minor two-mile contest at Bangor, but Henderson is not overly keen on either race.

He added: “It’s horrible. We would desperately like to get a run into him before Cheltenham, I still think we probably can.

“One or two people that remember what went past have said they can remember three horses that have won the Arkle on only their second run over fences, so that gives me hope – as if that is desperately the case, that is what we might have to do.

“Racing-wise, there’s very little. There’s the Pendil at Kempton, which is a fortnight yesterday and over two and a half miles, which I don’t really want to do. The whole point of running at Newbury against the older horses was so he could get the experience at somebody else’s speed, not his.

“They have put on a race at Bangor two days after Kempton over two miles, but that is awful close to Cheltenham and you could only see him going round on his own if he did do that. We can do that at home or hopefully by borrowing racecourses.

“He had an antibiotic on Friday night. Yesterday he’d gone two steps forward and we’ve lost one of those steps this morning, but that’s the way it is and we can only play it as it is.

“We’ve got the water treadmill and he loves playing in that, so we can keep him moving and we’re still very optimistic that everything will be fine. There’s no damage done, so we’ll keep you posted.”



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Henderson mulling next move for Sir Gino

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Nicky Henderson is optimistic Sir Gino will be back ridden on Monday, as he now ponders his options following the slight setback that scuppered a run at Newbury on Saturday.

The unbeaten five-year-old shot to Arkle favouritism with a sublime display at Kempton in the Wayward Lad over Christmas and was set to take on open company in the Game Spirit Chase to complete his Cheltenham Festival preparations.

However, he suffered a cut at home which saw him withdrawn from the Newbury Grade Two event on Friday morning, leaving the Seven Barrows handler scratching his head for an alternative port of call for a Prestbury Park tune-up.

Stretching out to two and a half miles for Kempton’s Pendil Novices’ Chase on February 22 or a two-mile event at Bangor were mooted as possible options by Henderson and the Lambourn handler is still formulating his plan.

“He’s OK and he was virtually sound this morning,” said Henderson. “We’re thinking we’ll be able to ride him on Monday, in which case we’ve missed nothing and we have a water treadmill he can splash around in for a few days.

“I’d be mortified if you don’t see him in a race before the Arkle and hopefully he will be fine next week.

“I was thinking of the Pendil but there is a little race at Bangor they have put on over two miles as well. We’ll just how to see how he is and that is the most important thing. He’s sound this morning.

“If he had to, then he might have to go to Cheltenham with only the one run over fences but it’s hardly ideal. I think he could and if you see him schooling, I promise you he is good, I’m not going to teach him anything by going anywhere.

“You’d like to think he’s got to go somewhere but I’m not mad about going two and a half miles. But Kempton is all there is, other than the race at Bangor and the thing about Bangor is it is after Kempton. It’s very kind of them to put these races on but the timing is hardly going to tempt a Cheltenham horse unless you’re in the straits that we’re in.

“It’s very hard and it’s so disappointing, not only for us but everyone here at Newbury who wanted to see him and we really wanted to run him. The race was ideal and the pace was going to be there to give him a nice rock and roll over fences, which is what we needed to do.”



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‘Sore’ Arkle favourite Sir Gino misses Game Spirit run

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Nicky Henderson’s Sir Gino will not run in Saturday’s William Hill Best Odds Guaranteed Game Spirit Chase at Newbury.

The five-year-old has been ruled out of the Grade Two contest due to a minor injury that has left him sore and unable to run.

Henderson is now searching for alternative contests to get the gelding onto the racecourse ahead of his Cheltenham Festival target of the Arkle.

Sir Gino and jockey Nico de Boinville
Sir Gino and jockey Nico de Boinville (Richard Sellers/PA)

The trainer said via X: “We have some news to share on Sir Gino. Regrettably Sir Gino will be unable to run at Newbury tomorrow as he has sustained a small wound to the inside of his near hind leg which is sore, it must have occurred during routine exercise yesterday and although he is less sore this morning than last night, I am afraid it will not be completely cleared by Saturday.

“We anticipate that he will be back to normal by the beginning of next week so the timing is very unfortunate.

“This will leave us with a dilemma where to go in order to get another run before the Arkle. The Pendil at Kempton would be an option, although it is over two and a half miles which is not ideal.

“There are very few alternatives except for a newly created two-mile novice at Bangor on 26th February but that is getting horribly close to Cheltenham.”

Sir Gino has had just one start over fences so far, when running out a hugely impressive winner of the Wayward Lad Novices’ Chase at Kempton over Christmas.

Henderson added: “It’s very annoying. He will be on the water treadmill and he will be in there today and tomorrow and hopefully we will be riding him again on Monday.”

Coral eased Sir Gino to 8-11 favourite from 4-6 in the betting for My Pension Expert Arkle Trophy in response to the late change in plan. The firm also trimmed the second favourite, Majborough to 7-4 from 2-1.

“All racing fans will be hoping Sir Gino’s absence from Newbury is just a temporary setback, as he is one of the most exciting jumpers in training right now, but clearly missing the Game Spirit is not ideal, and as a result, we have eased his Arkle odds slightly, albeit he remains odds-on favourite for the race,” said Coral’s David Stevens.



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Five set to take Sir Gino on at Newbury on Saturday

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Sir Gino will face five rivals when stepping into open company for the first time over fences in the Grade Two William Hill Game Spirit Chase at Newbury on Saturday.

Nicky Henderson’s unbeaten six-year-old was a dual Grade One winner over hurdles after adding November’s Fighting Fifth success at Newcastle to last season’s Aintree juvenile victory.

He then made a sensational debut over bigger obstacles when brushing aside Ballyburn in the Wayward Lad Novices’ Chase at Kempton over Christmas.

However, the hot favourite for Arkle glory at Cheltenham will face a stiff test at Newbury, with the opposition headed by Alan King’s veteran Edwardstone, who made all to win unchallenged in this contest 12 months ago.

Matata goes into the extended two-mile event on the back of a 10-length triumph under 12st in a competitive Windsor handicap, while Libberty Hunter was another who scored last time out at Cheltenham.

JPR One brings elite-level form to the table after finishing third behind Sir Gino’s stablemate Jonbon in the Tingle Creek at Sandown, where the reopposing Master Chewy and Edwardstone both fell.

Djelo sidesteps the Game Spirit in favour of the William Hill Bet10 Get10 On Racing Denman Chase over just short of three miles.

The Venetia Williams-trained seven-year-old struck at the same Grade Two level in the Peterborough Chase at Huntingdon when beating Protektorat, but was well behind the same opponent in Windsor’s Fleur de Lys.

Paul Nicholls has claimed the race named after his former Gold Cup hero a record 10 times and will be doubly represented this term through Bravemansgame and Hitman.

Colin Tizzard saddled Native River to three Denman Chase wins before also prevailing in 2022 with Eldorado Allen, who is back for another crack at the age of 11, now under the care of Tizzard’s son Joe.

Fugitif, Ga Law, Le Patron and the 13-year-old Sam Brown complete the line-up.

The William Hill Handicap Hurdle, which carries £155,000 in prize-money and is worth over £87,000 to the winner, has attracted a field of 18 runners, headed by top-weight Lump Sum.

Hughie Morrison’s stunning chestnut Secret Squirrel has been among the market leaders ever since obliging at Windsor last month.

Henderson will be represented by last year’s victor Iberico Lord and well-backed lightweight Joyeuse, who will be the mount of Nico de Boinville.

Chris Gordon’s Aucunrisque is another past winner back for another attempt at landing Europe’s richest handicap hurdle.



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Henderson expecting Newbury ‘education’ for Sir Gino

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Nicky Henderson thinks Sir Gino will learn more by lining up in Saturday’s William Hill Game Spirit Chase at Newbury than he would sticking to novice company.

While the exciting five-year-old does hold an entry in the Kingmaker at Warwick, where he would clash with Dan Skelton’s L’Eau Du Sud, Henderson prefers to keep him closer to home.

That means taking on last year’s winner of the race Edwardstone, who has also won a Tingle Creek Chase, and the improving pair of Matata and Libberty Hunter.

Having run both Sprinter Sacre and Altior in the race as novices, though, it is a familiar route for Henderson.

“He’s in good shape, he schooled last week and did a nice gallop on Saturday, he’s in good form,” the trainer told Sky Sports Racing.

“We think this is the road to (Cheltenham). It’s always a very good race but we’re using it as a prep, it’s education more than anything else.

“There’s a lot of reasons why he’s running, I just think Newbury is a nice place to go, it’s a great track for novices. We’ve used it before, I think it’s important that Nico (de Boinville) stays on him, so it wouldn’t have been convenient with all the other races at Newbury on Saturday (if he went to Warwick).

“By and large we said we’d come here, it will be competitive and the older horses will test him a bit more, their experience might rub off. They’ll go a good gallop, that’s for sure.

“If you went for an ordinary novice he’d probably end up making the running, I don’t say I don’t want him to make the running but he’ll learn more not doing it. There’s Matata and Edwardstone – he made all in this last year – and JPR One is a decent horse too, they’ll go a good gallop.”

Majborough impressed at Leopardstown
Majborough impressed at Leopardstown (Damien Eagers/PA)

Willie Mullins’ Majborough, last year’s Triumph Hurdle winner, cemented his position as Sir Gino’s big rival in the novice ranks by winning the Irish Arkle at the weekend, and Henderson was suitably impressed.

“I thought he was very impressive, he won really well and he’s the best of their two-mile novices, there’s no doubt about it,” said Henderson.

“It’s strange, the Arkle market is held together by two five-year-olds, that wouldn’t happen very often. We weren’t at Cheltenham while Majborough was and then we came in at Aintree.”



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Derham plotting double assault on William Hill Handicap Hurdle

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Harry Derham will have two arrows to fire at the valuable William Hill Handicap Hurdle at Newbury on Saturday, with both Washington and Givemefive intended runners in the £155,000 event.

Washington arrives on a hat-trick having won at Chepstow on his first run for the yard before then justifying favouritism in a decent race at Fairyhouse worth €59,000 to the winner.

Givemefive is on something of a retrieval mission. The five-year-old, owned by golfers Graeme McDowell and Brooks Koepka among others, won at Cheltenham in October but was only fourth behind Anzadam at Fairyhouse before disappointing at Windsor last time out.

“Since Ireland, this has very much been the plan with Washington,” said Derham.

“We’ve left Givemefive in as well but he was obviously very disappointing last time out, so we’ll probably run him in a pair of blinkers.

“I thought we could forgive him his run in Ireland, as we’ve taken him over twice now and he hasn’t run to form, but that doesn’t excuse his last run at Windsor!

“That was his first handicap, though, and obviously he’s much better than that at his best. We’ve aimed him at this Newbury race all season and I’m not going to not run him just because he disappointed last time out.”

A total of 23 were confirmed, meaning all will get a run, as there is a limit of 24.

Secret Squirrel, Favour And Fortune, Fiercely Proud, Joyeuse and Lump Sum, the new top weight, are all in the mix.

Sir Gino looks set to light up Newbury
Sir Gino looks set to light up Newbury (Zac Goodwin/PA)

Sir Gino is one of seven in the William Hill Game Spirit Chase. Nicky Henderson is not averse to running a novice in the Grade Two and Altior took this prize in 2017 before winning the Arkle. Sir Gino also holds a back-up entry in Warwick’s Kingmaker Novices’ Chase.

Edwardstone, JPR One, Matata and Djelo are among the entries and the latter also appears among eight possible contenders for the William Hill Denman Chase over three miles.

The Paul Nicholls duo of Bravemansgame and Hitman are on target, along with Jamie Snowden’s Ga Law.



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Henderson sets sights on familiar Newbury target for Sir Gino

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Sir Gino will bid to emulate former Seven Barrows stars Sprinter Sacre and Altior by stepping out of novice company for the William Hill Game Spirit Chase at Newbury on Saturday.

It is 13 years since Sprinter Sacre used the Grade Two contest as a stepping-stone to winning the Arkle Trophy at the Cheltenham Festival, and the similarly brilliant Altior repeated the feat in 2017.

Sir Gino is already odds-on to provide Nicky Henderson with an eighth Arkle success, having dazzled on his chasing debut at Kempton over the Christmas period – and while he will have the back-up option of the Kingmaker Novices’ Chase at Warwick, his Seven Barrows trainer is favouring a tried and tested route.

“He’s in great form, terrific, he’s schooled, worked and it’s all done,” said Henderson, speaking at Sandown on Saturday.

“I’ll put him in at Warwick as well, but the great thing is the weather is looking lovely and we might be looking at some nice ground.

“Newbury is the plan, but he will be in at Warwick if for any reason Newbury isn’t suitable.”



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Roving Reports: Reflections from the Festivities

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Well, Christmas and the New Year holidays are well and truly over, writes David Massey, and with the decorations stuffed back into the garage, the last of the Wensleydale and water biscuits demolished and just the awfulness of the Bounties left in the Celebrations tub (sorry Lydia, but it’s true) it’s time to go back to work.

Or at least it would be if the weather wasn’t playing havoc with my schedule this week. Leicester, which was the first port of call on Tuesday, bit the dust at the weekend and I’m not holding out a lot of hope for the nominated replacement fixture, Doncaster on Friday. Warwick on Saturday has to be in the balance, too, with the course waterlogged; and that in turn means they can’t get the frost sheets down for later in the week. I fear it may be a week at home, which in turn means the good lady will find lots of dreadful jobs for me to do. Anyone any good at hanging pictures up?

At least we got through Christmas with no abandonments and thank the Lord we did, with the good lady and myself taking in Kempton on Boxing Day and staying over for the Friday meeting before heading off to Challow Day at Newbury. She’d never been to King George Day before and so, despite a stupidly early get-up of 7am, we set off for what we hoped was a Bank Holiday weekend of tremendous sport.

The one really good thing about the Christmas period, when you do a lot of driving as part of your job, is the total lack of traffic on the road. It felt like it was at least ten minutes after leaving our house before we came across another vehicle. Why can’t it be like this all the time? Oh, how my life would be easier. No more bottlenecks in the roadworks on the A1 going to Wetherby. Goodbye, shocking jams near Heathrow that take me forty minutes to navigate on the way to Sandown. And farewell 50mph M1 roadworks near Northampton… actually, no. Those swines would still be there. Forever.

We arrived at Kempton in plenty of time – early, in fact, even after a Boxing Day Maccies breakfast stop at Watford Gap, a service station I frequently can’t find my way out of – and the Christmas spirit was already evident. After grabbing a coffee and catching up with my friend Anna from Sheffield, also at KG Day for the first time, I found my work partner Vicki and we set about how we were going to tackle the day.

The racing, I have to say, was superb. The Jukebox Man did not disappoint, looking every inch the chasing star I really hope he is. Constitution Hill, whilst not back to his best yet, was at least taking a step towards it in the Christmas Hurdle (and yes, he will come on for that). The wonderful Banbridge proved myself and others wrong by staying the three miles well and picking up a brave but tired Il Est Francais after the last. I was equally delighted to see L’Homme Presse finish third on his seasonal debut for Andy Edwards, and he tells me he's come out of the race well.

After the last we head to Addlestone, which is where we are staying for the next couple of nights. The good lady has booked us into a local Thai restaurant early evening for food, an excellent choice. We are greeted with a cheery “Merry Christmas!” by a Thai lady as we enter. I wish her a Merry Christmas back, thinking she was a member of staff. It turns out she wasn’t, merely a customer that had been enjoying herself in a local hostelry or two for the afternoon and wanted to carry that enjoyment on here. She entertained us by (loudly) singing along to all the easy-listening versions of classic pop songs the restaurant were playing – her rendition of Coldplay’s “Yellow” a personal highlight – until she’d entertained us for long enough and decided to go back to the pub. “If you ever come to Woking, I’ll take care of you!” she shouted as she left, something I wasn’t sure was a promise of hospitality or a threat. We finished our meal in peace and went back to the hotel for a quiet night.

Kempton Day 2. Breakfast in the superb Bread & Roses, which I can highly recommend if you’re ever in the area, is followed by a blissful 17-minute drive to the course. Although not before I’ve filled up with petrol, which has me muttering “how much?” as even the prices at the local supermarkets are considerably higher than they are in the Midlands. Can’t eat value, goes the old racing saying, but I can’t even put it in the tank down here.

With time to kill at the track, I try my hand at a Crystal Maze-like box that is one of the on-course attractions set up by Ladbrokes on the day. Those of you of a certain vintage will remember the endgame of The Crystal Maze: what remained of the team of accountants/nurses/architects by this point were locked into a huge glass dome before they turned the fans on, and all the pretty gold and silver tickets flew around their heads. The aim was to get 100 Gold tokens to win the big prize (“The pony-trekking holiday in Ullswater will be MINE!”) which they failed to do with alarming regularity. This was similar, but with flying foam balls. I scored 30 in my allotted 30 seconds in the box, which I thought was pretty good, but the bloke after me, who couldn’t have been much more than five foot tall, scored an impressive 38. Lower centre of gravity, I told myself. Yes, it was that, and not the fact I’m old and creaking, that was the difference. Let’s move on.

The highlight of the day’s racing was, without doubt, Sir Gino, who looked superb before the Wayward Lad and, as he danced around Kempton’s tight turns attracting oohs and aaahs from the knowledgeable crowd as he put in spectacular leaps at some of his fences, you did get the feeling you were watching a new chasing star being born. From a punting perspective, by far the better day of the two for me, with both Della Casa Lunga and Ooh Betty getting me back in front over the two days.

With the Italian restaurant cancelling my reservation for no good reason, food that night is nothing more than a raid on the local Waitrose and back to the hotel but the peace of the evening is rudely shattered by the fire alarm going off. We’re all outside – I say all, there couldn’t have been more than forty of us – debating whether this is someone having a fag in one of the rooms or whether local kids are mucking around, when I realise I’ve left my coat in the room and am now freezing cold. It takes 40 minutes to sort the mess out, but thankfully it’s a false alarm, and nothing worse than us missing an Only Connect Christmas Special has happened. However, the alarm periodically goes off for a few seconds at a time and we wonder whether we are going to get through the night without another visit to the car park.

The episode takes me back to a time when that happened in a Travelodge in (I think) Leatherhead a few years ago. We were all outside in the cold when a lady offered me her dressing gown. That was weird enough, but literally getting propositioned by her not long after put the tin hat on things. (No, I didn’t, behave yourselves. I’m better than that. Not much, but I am.)

As things turned out, it was a Silent Night, with the alarm behaving itself and we get a decent kip. A final Builder’s Breakfast at Bread & Roses (the scales were not kind to me next morning) and we are on the road to Newbury.

Now, Newbury is one of those tracks that seems to split opinion. Vicki loves the place, but she’s crackers, and I’m with the majority that find the place hard going these days. I have to say that the new pre-parade ring is very good, though, and a real boon for those wanting to get an early look.

This is supposed to be a day off with the good lady for me, with Vicki doing the donkey work for Trackside today, but it isn’t long before I’m roped back in as the favourite for the second is taken back to the pre-parade. “Get in there and see what the problem is, will ya?” she says, literally pushing me that way in the process. I do as I’m told, obviously, and it turns out they’re having issues with the tongue-tie, which gets a report. The horse ends up well beaten.

The Good Doctor, on which I’ve had a decent bet in the next, isn’t quite good enough, as it turns out, with The Famous Five having his measure by a short-head. The wife has backed the winner, too, a double kick in the Norbits, but Henry’s Friend prevailing an hour later ensures I won’t go home potless on the day.

The Challow is a cracker, with The New Lion looking every inch the top-class hurdler (and future chaser) he promised to be beforehand. He’s too good for them, far too good. Did I foresee him being sold within a week? Using the Yates' celebrations after as a guide, I did not.

It’s getting dark, and our Bank Holiday Bonanza Of Racing is coming to a close. With still little traffic on the roads, we head home via the M40 and A43. We’re within a couple of miles of the now defunct Towcester Racecourse at one point. Oh, how I wish that was still open. Finding slow horses is something I can do…

The M1 Northampton roadworks haven’t gone away. You can’t have everything, I suppose. Home for seven, and a chance to catch up with that missing Only Connect. I reckon we could do a racing version, if we put our minds to it. I’ve got some time on my hands this week now. I’ll have a think and get back to you in the next missive.

See you on a racecourse soon!

- DM



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Monday Musings: Nobody Else

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Who else could have handled it? Never mind Willie Mullins for all his mastery at winning championship races, writes Tony Stafford. Add those other Irish behemoths of jumps training, Gordon Elliott and Henry de Bromhead. You could probably slip Joseph O’Brien onto that list now he has renewed his love of collecting Grade 1 jumping prizes, notably last week’s King George at Kempton with Banbridge.

As to the UK, after Paul Nicholls and Dan Skelton it’s hard to imagine anyone having the resources or flexibility to attempt Nicky Henderson’s Christmas equine gymnastics. He’s a man apart.

Go back to last month. He took two horses for a gallop at Kempton Park. One, the former Champion Hurdler Constitution Hill, was aiming at a third consecutive Fighting Fifth Hurdle at Newcastle having been absent since the last one. The other, the unbeaten four-year-old Sir Gino, was being prepared for an early first race over fences.

It was a publicised workout, so the racing press were there expecting to see Constitution Hill come out on top. Then, assuredly, to resume at Newcastle that daunting sequence of eight successive wins since being bought from Warren Ewing and former Seven Barrows stable jockey Barry Geraghty for €120k.

That represented a fair profit on the €16k they paid for him before he had his one racecourse defeat, possibly unluckily, in a point-to-point. What could match him? But Henderson never minds testing his best horses – “no point” he probably says, “sending them away from home to look good against trees”.

Anyway, this tree spread his branches and took exception to his sacrificial object role and came out on top. I pondered a few weeks ago here whether the gallop was possibly a fair representation of where they are now and there were, and since, elements in the form lines of some of Mullins’ best horses that back up that theory.  More of that later.

But it brought an instant change of plan, Henderson with that nimbleness of thought that has kept him at the top of the tree – the fact he wins fewer trainer championships as the relentless Paul Nicholls to my mind has nothing to do with it.

“Constitution Hill isn’t ready” was the message followed soon after by a minor lameness issue, so Sir Gino, would-be chaser, would have to step in and continue his own unblemished Rules career record at Newcastle.

Although eight turned up at Gosforth Park, it was billed as a straight match between four-for-four Sir Gino and five-from-six Majestic Power from the Mullins stable. By Galileo out of Annie Power, Majestic Power has the most awesome pedigree and an equally redoubtable trio of owners, Mrs Ricchi, Mrs Magnier and J P McManus. It was widely held that the Mullins steamroller could not be thwarted.

In those top two-mile hurdle races, though, only a hint of inefficiency over the obstacles will leave any horse flailing in the wake of the rest and so it proved with Majestic Power. Ahead of him, Sir Gino, fluent from the outset, hit the front when Nico de Boinville wanted and drew away to an easy win.

The identity of the runner-up was almost immaterial, except that Sam Thomas’s Lump Sum picked up a more than useful £24k lump sum for his owners. It made everyone start looking at Sir Gino’s credentials for the Champion Hurdle, especially with Constitution Hill’s potential readiness in doubt at that stage.

Sir Gino hadn’t managed to get to the Triumph Hurdle last March so was unable to pick a fight with the septet of Mullins juveniles, the first two among them Majborough who beat filly Kargese by one and half lengths.

Majborough didn’t go on to Aintree for the Boodles Anniversary Hurdle, but Kargese did and Sir Gino beat her by almost four lengths.

Any suggestion that the Mullins filly was below par on the day has no credence as she easily won the Champion 4yo Hurdle at Punchestown in May. Meanwhile Majborough, with so much hurdles talent for Mullins to juggle, was sent straight over fences for his first run since Cheltenham and won easily at Fairyhouse last month.

It didn’t take long for any question whether Sir Gino would be aimed at the Champion Hurdle or taking the chasing path. Constitution Hill came right in the days leading up to Christmas when it was decided he would try for a third consecutive Christmas Hurdle. Waiting to destroy his unbeaten record was the 2023 Triumph Hurdle winner Lossiemouth, hard trained after a facile two-and-a-half-mile win over smart Teahupoo this month.

The French-bred mare came to Kempton with nine wins and a dreadfully unlucky 2nd in her first season on her card. Easy winner of both mares’ races at the Cheltenham and Punchestown Festivals, the latter at 2/11, she would be a stern test for the returning champion.

While Constitution Hill raced fluently close behind recent Greatwood Hurdle winner Burdett Road in the four-runner race, Paul Townend was content to allow Lossiemouth to sit a few lengths behind - perhaps he just couldn't go the speed of his rival. At no time did Constitution Hill look in danger.

De Boinville urged – no more - Constitution Hill to the front before the last flight at which Burdett Road made a horrible mistake and Lossiemouth wasn’t fluent either, but still the margin of two-and-a-half lengths didn’t reflect the winner’s superiority. At the same time, Lossiemouth’s own exceptional ability was not dimmed on a track where stamina, her main asset, wasn’t the prime requirement on the day.

But for me, the Christmas race of races was the Wayward Lad Novices' Chase on Friday. Here Sir Gino was unhesitatingly pitted against possibly the biggest talking-horse ever to come out of Ireland since Arkle - and “Himself” was racing more than 60 years ago!

As Ballyburn went through his season as a novice hurdler last winter, the publicity machine, in some degree initiated and fuelled by those closest to him and greedily latched on to by the media, earned him the status in some parts as “unbeatable”.

True he made mincemeat – appropriate for this time of year? - of the opposition at Cheltenham in the 2m5f Gallagher Novices' Hurdle, but two-thirds of the opposition, and handsome place prizemoney collectors, were from the Mullins stable. Two UK upstarts, one each for Ben Pauling, last of six to finish, and Nicky Henderson, pulled up, made this an open goal for the favourite.

An even easier victory came at Punchestown, and he returned to the same track for a debut win over fences last month.

So when they lined up on Friday at Kempton, it was a slight surprise to me that Sir Gino was comfortably preferred in the market in a race where again, as in the Christmas Hurdle, it featured two no-hopers in a field of four.

Ballyburn, with the experience and the need to make it a gallop over the two miles, was sent to the front by Paul Townend, but Sir Gino, all the way round, looked the more assured jumper and it was no surprise when he was allowed to take the lead going to three out. The last trio of Pendil-like leaps – look him up if you cannot remember the 1970’s – took him clear and the margin of seven and a half lengths again was no accurate reflection of their relative performances.

So once more Nicky Henderson has trumped everything that could possibly have been thrown at him. The noisy Ballyburn adherents will be wishing their trainer had kept him for one of the multitude of Grade 1 options that litter the four days of Leopardstown and even the odd one at Limerick over their joint Christmas programme.

The two Kempton defeats did signal more than a hiccup for Mullins. On Friday, in all he had 32 runners and, while it’s fair to say there were a few outsiders among them, it must have been a rare if not unprecedented experience for him to come home from Kempton in the knowledge that only one of the 32 had been victorious. That came in a chase at Limerick where two horses in front of his runner fell independently, allowing his to come through to win.

I think already we must regard Sir Gino as the next Altior. Altior won the Wayward Lad during 14 consecutive chase wins a decade ago. But Sir Gino’s achievement should be considered in the light that Altior’s win at 1/9 came on his third start over fences. Of course he won the Arkle. Of course, so will Sir Gino, unless Constitution Hill has any reason to miss the attempt at recapturing the Champion Hurdle from Mullins' State Man (and Elliott's Brighterdaysahead, who blitzed State Man yesterday), then no doubt he’ll go there and win that. See if you can back him for that, non-runner no bet!

- TS



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