ALTIOR JOINS THE GREATS
Henderson’s joy as his hero proves too good for Mullins’ Min
ASTORMING sevenlength win by Altior in the £400,000 Betway Queen Mother Champion Chase surely proved to even the most sceptical spectator that he is worthy of filling the illustrious boots of his brilliant former stablemate Sprinter Sacre.
Even trainer Nicky Henderson, who loathes comparing his best horses, conceded Altior measures up pretty well with his predecessor, who took this prize twice during his brilliant career.
On the second day of the Festival in which all the other six winners were Irish-trained, Altior’s first Champion Chase win may have been authoritative in the end but it was not without drama.
Bearing down on the home turn he looked in trouble under jockey Nico de Boinville.
Momentarily, it raised concerns that the sore infected foot that had briefly sent Altior lame on Monday might be having an effect.
Some punters might also have suffered a flicker of concern that the arduous ground was maybe asking the same physical questions that caused Altior to require a breathing operation in December that threatened to derail his season.
But when De Boinville steered him off the running rail and into clear water, evens favourite Altior simply took off and cut down eventual runner-up Min and Politologue, who faded into fourth after being caught by God’s Own.
Henderson has now won the feature race in the first two days, having landed the Champion Hurdle on Tuesday. He stands on the verge of an unprecedented treble with the De Boinville-ridden Might Bite favourite for tomorrow’s Gold Cup.
The gelding, last seen, when winning the King George VI Chase at Kempton on St Stephen’s Day, has some act to follow after what Altior did yesterday.
Henderson, winning his fifth Champion Chase, said: ‘Just for a second, you thought it wasn’t going to happen. If he had been beaten, I promise you I was not going to say he had a sore foot.
‘But when Nico pulled him out and he saw daylight, he knew where he was going. He was electric.
‘To find those sort of gears on that ground and off that sort of pace, you’ve got to be pretty good. We’ve been down this road a fair few times and it is 90 per cent relief and 10 per cent pure joy.
‘It’s strange that Altior has come around so soon after Sprinter Sacre. This is a very, very good horse. I have always said he had very big shoes to fill, but each time he wins he gets closer to doing that.
‘We will never forget Sprinter, who tugged at heart strings in a way this horse might never do. But if he wins again he might!
‘Sprinter was such a show-off and a swank and he won this race by a distance, although I am not sure he beat horses as good as in this race.’
De Boinville admitted he did have a few moments of concern. He said: ‘He hated the ground, every bit of it. It was his jumping which kept him in it.
‘They have gone a true gallop. I was slightly cooked but I know he has that last bit of gear at the end of a race.
‘I just thought if I could get a clean run and switch him out and get on some fresh ground we may go away and that is exactly what he has done.
‘He is an incredible horse and I am very lucky to be associated with him. He’s a freak.
‘Him and Sprinter Sacre are very different horses. Sprinter always did his best work between three furlongs and two furlongs out. Altior does his best work at the end.’
When Paul Townend turned for home on Min he must have thought he was on his way to victory for trainer Willie Mullins and owner Rich Ricci.
‘Min ran a terrific race, he was going away from the third and fourth horse and just met a superstar on the day. It was a tremendous training performance from Nicky and the horse,’ said Mullins.
‘We did well to finish second. Paul gave him a fantastic ride, he came through at the right time and it looked like the winner was beaten but he just found another gear going up the hill.’
What would have happened to Mullins’ Douvan can only be guessed at.
With Patrick Mullins substituting for the injured Ruby Walsh, the eight-year-old — having his first run since sustaining a pelvic injury in this race 12 months earlier — was still travelling powerfully when crashing out of the race with an ugly dive at the fourth-last fence.
Mullins said: ‘Watching what Douvan was doing at the time, he looked to be back to himself. Patrick looked to be very comfortable. He was riding him with huge confidence. It looks well for the future that we could get him back to himself.’
Tom George said of God’s Own: ‘I’m proud of him. He didn’t like that ground, but he still put in a good show. The spark is still there and there is another good day in him.
‘It is a credit to him, given the situation he was in. We had to run to get the match practice into him. It bodes well for the future when we get the good ground for him.
‘The horse was very fresh and we do train them for this time of year, so it shows he has still got it. I don’t know what the gap is between Aintree and Punchestown and we have got to think carefully. We have got to pick where the ground will be best, as we have got that run into him today.’
Meanwhile, a delighted Henderson is confident Altior will stay further but the plan is to stick to two miles. Why change a winning formula?
‘It is 90 per cent relief and 10 per cent pure joy’ ‘I was slightly cooked but I know he has that last gear’