Henry’s drinking in a Champagne season
‘It was sad to see Sizing John go, but I hope he runs a big race’
KEEPING a calm head in the line of fire befits Henry de Bromhead.
After all, his family tree includes Lieutenant Gonville Bromhead VC, a British soldier who survived Rorke’s Drift in 1879 and was played by Michael Caine in the movie Zulu.
De Bromhead was entitled to feel under siege last August when his principal owners, Ann and Alan Potts, removed a dozen horses from his Waterford yard.
De Bromhead is a stoic sort but seeing his stars, especially Sizing John, being driven out the gates ‘was tough’.
Rather than mope, he showed a stiff upper lip, of which his ancestor Gonville would have approved and knuckled down to preparing for the National Hunt season.
It helped that Warwickshirebased owner Roger Brookhouse had already sent him a couple of decent horses, while he later became one of the beneficiaries of the Willie Mullins-Gigginstown House split.
Fast forward nine months and De Bromhead is enjoying his finest season as a trainer, firmly established as the No 3 behind Mullins and Gordon Elliott.
He’s also had a memorable Cheltenham after Special Tiara’s gritty triumph in Wednesday’s Champion Chase while Petit Mouchoir was a creditable third in the Champion Hurdle.
Today, De Bromhead saddles the Brookhouse-owned Champagne West for a crack at the Gold Cup where Sizing John, now trained by Jessica Harrington, is one of the horses he fears most.
‘Of all the horses, it was sad to see him go but I’d be delighted to see him run a big race in the Gold Cup as myself and my wife (Heather) bought him,’ he said.
Sizing John is probably one of the last horses De Bromhead expected to see lining up in the Blue Riband of chasing as he was a two-mile specialist in Douvan’s slipstream during his time in Knockeen.
The decision to tackle an extra 10 furlongs was taken by Harrington after consulting with her jockey, Robbie Power — a formidable team who have already combined with Supasundae to win Wednesday’s Coral Cup.
‘All his work at home suggested he would stay further, his pedigree indicates that,’ observed Power, who is having his first ride in the Gold Cup.
‘I rode him at Leopardstown behind Douvan and it was either stay two miles and chase Douvan for the rest of the year or step up in trip. We decided on the latter,’ he explained.
‘He handled two and a half miles in Thurles, where I think he outstayed Sub Lieutenant rather than do him for speed. Then he went to Leopardstown for the Irish Gold Cup and he stayed the trip really well.
‘We didn’t go overly fast, but he quickened up over the last.
‘Obviously, Cheltenham is two furlongs further and it’s a stiffer track. You don’t know until you try. If he stays the trip, he’s got a massive chance.
‘I think he’s better on good ground so if it’s good to soft, I’d be delighted. If it turns into a slog, it would suit the likes of Native River,’ he added.
The pain of Sizing John’s departure for De Bromhead was eased by the emergence of Champagne West, who has won two of his three starts, most recently a pillar-to-post triumph in the Thyestes Chase.
To give 11lbs and a seven and a half length beating to Ucello Conti, the leading Grand National contender, was a fair performance, which carried echoes of Djakadam’s Thyestes triumph in 2015. ‘Going into the Thyestes, I was dreaming he’d go out and win it by eight or 10 lengths and give a display that could mark him as being able to have a go in a Gold Cup, which is what he did,’ said De Bromhead. ‘I know there were some fairly wellinformed guys impressed by him that day, so we’ll see. The Gold Cup looks as competitive as ever,’ he added. It also looks open as none of the last three winners, Lord Windermere (2014), Coneygree (2015) or Don Cossack (2016) has made it back, which illustrates what a draining championship race it is.
For Power, the chief dangers are Native River, Cue Card and Djakadam.
‘For me, Djakadam will take plenty of beating. He’s going there fresh, which is new for him,’ said De Bromhead.
Champagne West, who will have David Mullins in the plate, isn’t without his followers at 16/1 and his front-running style at a course he knows well — this is his seventh run at Cheltenham — could ask questions of those with stamina doubts, such as Sizing John.
For De Bromhead, the ideal onetwo would be Champagne West and Sizing John, in that order.
It’s an intriguing sub-plot to a race where you can run but you can’t hide. Gonville Bromhead, you sense, would appreciate the challenge.