HENDERSON HAILS BUVEUR ‘MIRACLE’
TRAINER Nicky Henderson paid tribute yesterday to the vets who have ‘worked miracles’ to get dual Champion Hurdler Buveur D’Air ready for Haydock today.
It is the 10-year-old’s first run since he won the Fighting Fifth Hurdle in November 2019 with a large splinter from a hurdle pierced in his foreleg just above the hoof.
Henderson said: ‘It was sticking out of his foot like a dagger. They had to take the front of the hoof off. It was like opening the door so they could get in. They had a white cloth laid out with all the pieces they had taken out, every microscopic fragment.’
Henderson’s 10-year-old receives weight from both his rivals today and is proven in testing conditions, although the Grade Two affair may not have been the first race on the Seven Barrows trainer’s agenda for the JP McManus-owned gelding.
‘This wasn’t the original plan, but he was so well and came to himself much quicker than I anticipated so we decided to come here and it will be great to see him back on a racetrack,’ said Henderson.
‘It was very much touch and go as to whether he’d even race again, but we have changed the way he trains and he never sets foot on anything other than grass and everything has gone well.
‘Yes there are only three runners and yes he receives weight, but it’s still a horse race and he has to jump and gallop round safely so it’s certainly no “gimme”. But I couldn’t be happier with him.’
Nigel Twiston-Davies feels Ballyandy will be no pushover as he bids to win this race for the second year running. ‘Ballyandy has been a wonderful horse for us and we’re looking forward to seeing him run,’ he said.
‘He won the race last year on testing ground, so hopefully he can once again go close.
‘He is taking on the returning Buveur D’Air but, given the ground and his form this season, we are hopeful of a good run. He came out of the Christmas Hurdle well and this has been the plan since.’
Navajo Pass has a bit to find on ratings, but trainer Donald McCain is happy to take his chance in such a small field.
‘Obviously we’re up against it off 149, he’s just turned five,’ said the Cheshire handler.
‘We’ve nowhere to go unless we want to carry a huge weight in a handicap, which is what we were doing at the start of the season and couldn’t do it.
‘I think two miles on this ground will be fine. I’ve got an owner (Tim Leslie) that’s prepared to take a punt, so we’ll see.’