Altior in an uphill battle to make Cheltenham after pulling up lame
● Henderson says brilliant two-miler’s Champion Chase tilt is now uncertain
Nicky Henderson will do all he can to get Altior to the Betway Queen Mother Champion Chase after revealing the brilliant two-miler was found to be lame yesterday.
Altior suffered his first career defeat over jumps at Ascot in November, but bounced back on his return to his favoured two miles in the Game Spirit at Newbury last month.
All had been set fair for an eagerly-awaited showdown with Defi Du Seuil and Chacun Pour Soi at Cheltenham on Wednesday.
But Henderson said yesterday: “Unfortunately Altior was lame this morning, due to an old splint that has been dormant. It’s never bothered him before and typically it rears its ugly head now.
“We are working away and there’s lots we can do, we have two days, but it’s an uphill battle. We have the treadmill he can go on and it’s very cold water, which helps these things a lot.
“We have to keep going. We’re working away and we’ll either get lucky or we won’t.”
He added: “He was sound as a pound yesterday – you wouldn’t have seen a sounder horse.”
Ante-post favourite Epatante is set to face 16 rivals in the Unibet Champion Hurdle at Cheltenham tomorrow. The JP Mcmanus-owned mare has been hugely impressive in winning each of her two starts this season and leaped to the head of the market for what appears a wide-open renewal of the two-mile championship with a dominant display in the Christmas Hurdle at Kempton on Boxing Day.
Epatante’s trainer Nicky Henderson also saddles last season’s Triumph Hurdle hero Pentland Hills, Call Me Lord and Fusil Raffles as he bids to add to his record haul of seven Champion Hurdle wins. Henderson has not declared the mare Verdana Blue.
The Irish challenge includes the Willie Mullins-trained pair of Cilaos Emery and Sharjah.
Cilaos Emery was supplemented after successfully reverting to hurdles from fences at Gowran Park last month, while Sharjah needs to bounce back from a disappointing run in the Irish Champion Hurdle at Leopardstown.
Gavin Cromwell, who landed last year’s Champion Hurdle with the ill-fated Espoir D’allen, is this year represented by the fast-improving Irish Champion Hurdle runner-up Darver Star.
Gordon Elliott’s Coeur Sublime, Joseph O’brien’s Darasso, Henry de Bromhead’s Petit Mouchoir and the Jessica Harrington-trained Supasundae completed the raiding party, with De Bromhead’s Irish Champion Hurdle winner Honeysuckle instead running in the Mares’ Hurdle, as expected.
Ballyandy (Nigel Twistondavies), Cornerstone Lad (Micky Hammond), Gumball (Philip Hobbs), Le Patriote (Dr Richard Newland), Not So Sleepy (Hughie Morrison) and Silver Streak (Evan Williams) complete the line-up.
Shishkin and Asterion Forlonge are two of 16 runners declared for the Sky Bet Supreme Novices’ Hurdle.
Since making it no further than the second flight on his hurdling debut, Henderson’s Shishkin has gone on to prove himself a top-class prospect with two facile victories at Newbury and Huntingdon – propelling him to favouritism for the traditional Festival curtain-raiser.
Henderson also runs Chantry House and Allart in his bid for a fourth Supreme success.
Mullins has won the race more than any other trainer, saddling four of the last seven winners and six in all, Tourist Attraction providing him with his very first Festival success when striking gold in 1995.
His chief contender this time around is Asterion Forlonge.