Sprinter Sacre

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

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.

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

A_T.  Enough about Nicky - what about the horse?

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

have heard he is flying

Simonsig not flying out of Peterborough Chase

We may not see either of them this season.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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!!

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.

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.

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.