Sprinter Sacre

vibes deffo agaist him turning up imo

willie must be thinking theres 2 grade 1s going begging here im sure ruby will be pointing this out to him in any case

Are you writing about the Tingle or the QM? I would not back him for anything until he was standing on the start line.

I was talking about the QM! but I assume it applies to the Tingle aswell

In RP - Hendo has said he may be 'doubtful' for the Tingle creek and it depends on a racecourse gallop.....so he has drifted for both that and the QM.

4.6 for the QM.... yikes.

In RP - Hendo has said he may be 'doubtful'

So in other words he there is a chance of him being doubtful. The likelihood of him being doubtful still holds some doubt.

Personally i think Henderson is suffering from paralysis by over analysis with Sprinter Sacre. A bit like dartitis. Afraid to let go.

finished I'm afraid will never again be the force he was

A_T.  Enough about Nicky - what about the horse?

SS is the perfect horse for Henderson. Looks great, never runs.

So in other words he there is a chance of him being doubtful. The likelihood of him being doubtful still holds some doubt

Another Remittance Man?

makes sense to run simonsig here instead of huntingdon if SS not going

have heard he is flying

out of the tingle creek.

Simonsig not flying out of Peterborough Chase

Anyone else think we've seen him for the last time?

We may not see either of them this season.

SS is supposed to be over the heart problem so he's either got another problem we haven't been told about or and more likely, he's just lost the heart for it ...no pun intended.

There has been talk of him struggling with his wind. I've not read anything from the stable to confirm this. All Henderson says is his problems have been well documented. Obviously not that well as nobody seems to know why he is off the track.

He did suffer with his wind in his novice hurdle season. He had an operation after finishing behind Al Ferof in the Supreme. Maybe it's returned?

Would be nice to have an update from the stable as he is the highest rated chaser in the land.

Would not be surprised if we do not see him on a racecourse again.....unfortunately.

Nicky Henderson runs his horses into the ground. None of his top horses in the past decade or longer have managed to hold their form past one open company season.

Punjabi - wins champion falls off a cliff
Binocular - Wins Champion falls drastically down after that
Long Run - Wins gold cup and falls off a cliff
Bobs Worth - wins gold cup and well beaten twice last season
Finians Rainbow - Wins Champ chase and never same
Punchestowns...

Now it's Sprinter. He squeezes every bit of life out of a horse to get it to the top of the mountain.

It's a huge credit to Nicholls and Mullins for how they have managed to keep the best horses they have or ever will get their hands on at the top for so long.

Bit harsh.

List all these Mullins horses that have been at the top so long.
I got Hurricane Fly.
Now name me all the QMum winners,Gold Cup winners and other CHurdle winners that stayed at the top so long.

I always felt at the time that asking him to win at all three big festivals was asking too much and we saw that at Punchestown. I think connections got a bit carried away because he makes things look easy but the stress the horse must be putting it's body under to win like that in high class races must still take its toll.

Not trying to be cynical but I'm not sure there's ever been too much wrong with his heart. I don't see how he can't be ready after such a long time off. Don't forget he was apparently fit and well at the end of last season. I can honestly see the excuse of not wanting to run him in heavy ground. That's sensible but the "not ready" excuse makes me think something isn't right. I wonder if like brandyontherocks says looking back to his Supreme if those breathing problems have come back.

Bobs Worth won Grade 1 races in four consecutive seasons. It is very hard to keep human or equine athletes sound for more than 3 seasons.

Bob won the Lexus last season as well.

Binocular was around the top of the CH scene for years,placed at the festival 4 times I believe.

Long Run 2 king georges.

Punjabi must have run at the festival 3 or 4 times,and placed and won the CHurdle despite imo not quiet being top class.

Like I said bit harsh.

Without exception they peak for one season and one season only. He doesn't get them to train on as well. That is my opinion, and actually the opinion of quite a few people I know.

It is a bit of a concern that Sprinter is going to miss the Tingle Creek next wk
Hopefully we see him & a few other big names back on track soon.
Fingers X they all return to their best this season.

The vast majority of horses peak for one season. Those that maintain top class form are rare-but everyone knows and loves them.

Fair enough that's your opinion mate about Henderson, now tell me all these Mullins horses that peak season after season if that's ok

Some horses dont train on or not deteriorate with age, dont know the stats on networks offspring but i would not be owning a poliglote over the age of 6.

they should just retire SS

Those that maintain top class form are rare - exactly Sage,rare indeed,and yes we do know who they are.

Not really sure why CV has had a pop at Henderson here,as far as I can see hes no worse than any other trainer in having horses that have setbacks. Just at this moment he has 2 top class high profile animals out at the same time.One of those has a heart problem....is that trainers fault??!!

Anyway,do we always know if a horse is at its peak??,i mean a defending champion can be at its peak but can simply get beat by a better horse.
Fact is Henderson has had many horses that have run and won and placed in top races at the Cheltenham festival over more than one year!!

Has more then 2 top class high profile animals out tbh

Ok,but I think SS and Simonsig are the horses that most are disappointed about-maybe MTOY as well,but the main point is that hes not the only trainer who has horses in his yard that are currently on the sidelines,and his history imo is no worse than most.

has a poor record keeping chasers sound  and second season novices are few and far between imo

Hardly think you can call the progression of SS a one season peak. He was excellent during his novice season aswell. All horses get injuries from time to time the horse raced 5 times last year which was hardly running it into the ground.

Carrying pole snapped taking on Sizing at Punchestown at the end of an extended season.

CV talking rubbish here. Look what Henderson did with See You Then, take Kauto Star away and Long Run is a triple winner of the KG. Every trainer struggles to keep a horse peaking at various age stages of it`s racing career even Mullins. Expecting horses to win multiple championship races at Cheltenham year after year is not realistic, great when it happens though.

Anyway, i am willing to take the angle that Henderson is overly cautious over the well being of his stable and wants every box ticked to put Sacre on the track again. Cheltenham is the focus. Softly softly.