Hussar leads the charge
Henderson chaser well supported for King George battle
HAVING been denied the chance of winning the totepool Handicap Chase at Windsor’s abandoned meeting on Saturday, Irish Hussar will now tackle the King George VI Chase at Sandown on Boxing Day.
Nicky Henderson’s talented but fragile nine-year- old, who was backed down to 33-1 from 66-1 with Ladbrokes yesterday, managed only one run last season when a good third to L’Ami’s brother Kelami in the William Hill Chase at Cheltenham takes the place of the sidelined Trabolgan.
It will mean a change of mount for stable jockey Mick Fitzgerald, who had been booked for L’Ami whose trainer Francois Doumen will be looking for a new rider too.
Fitzgerald, handed a one- day ban (December 30) for using his whip with excessive force on The Grocers Curate at Doncaster yesterday, said: ‘ One of the great things about riding for Nicky Henderson is that he has a plethora of good horses and Irish Hussar certainly fits the bill.
‘He is a very good horse and we have always held him in the highest regard at Seven Barrows. He proved that last year with a fantastic run in the William Hill Chase.
‘He hadn’t run for a long time but still ran a fantastic race giving Kelami a stone and five pounds. I think Sandown is a track which will suit him OK but I would be a little worried about the uphill finish for Kicking King.’
Henderson will scan Hennessy winner Trabolgan tomorrow or Thursday to determine whether he remains in training for the Gold Cup this season. He has been ridden every day and there is optimism that his legs could stand training.
Richard Johnson crept to within nine winners of 10- times champion jockey Tony McCoy’s seasonal total of 114 when riding Napoleon to victory in a novices’ hurdle at Doncaster yesterday.
But he will have been annoyed to have missed a second winner when stood down from riding Down’s Folly in the Sands Live Handicap Hurdle. Wayne Hutchinson substituted for Johnson, who had earlier suffered crunching falls on Dunbrody Millar and Chilling Place.
TRAINER Evan Williams, 34, was fined £7,500 after being found in breach of two Jockey Club rules yesterday over the death of Indibar, a horse in his care which was destroyed against owner Paul Cooper’s wishes. He was found to have acted in a manner prejudicial to the integrity of racing and also to have misled a Jockey Club investigtor. Williams, in his third season, has had 38 winners this campaign.
THE Long Walk Hurdle, lost to the weather on Saturday, will now be run at the Welsh National meeting at Chepstow a week today.
c.mackenzie@dailymail.co.uk