July 28, 2010 - 3:45 pm
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Horses for courses is the old maxim but it seems to be July racing festivals that agree with Ghimaar.
He won at successive Galway Festivals when trained in Ireland by Dermot Weld and he provided Nicky Henderson with the second Glorious Goodwood winner of his career in the sportingbet.com Goodwood Stakes.
To read the full blog: http://blogs.bettor.com/Glorious-Goodwood-winner-for-Nicky-Henderson-a19006
March 5, 2010 - 10:16 pm
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This is usually the time before a Cheltenham Festival that produces more hard-luck stories than the poor house, as fancied horses succumb to various injuries and ailments.
Now Binocular appears ready to buck the trend by making the line-up for the Champion Hurdle, having been ruled out by Nicky Henderson with a muscle problem. Shades of [...]
February 19, 2010 - 3:21 pm
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Binocular injured, Zaynar beaten at Kelso; can it get any worse for Nicky Henderson?
It’s all down to Punjabi in the Bathwick Tyres Kingwell Hurdle at Wincanton. However, the reigning champion hurdler was beaten on testing ground at Haydock last month and Starluck met the same fate there on similar ground in November.
Wincanton will be riding [...]
February 16, 2010 - 4:14 pm
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Last week Barry Geraghty said that he was facing a tough choice between riding either Punjabi or Zaynar in next month’s Champion Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival.
His loyalty to Punjbai, on whom he won last year’s Champion, is understandable but may yet be tested sooner than the jockey thought. Nicky Henderson has entered Punjabi for [...]
February 2, 2010 - 11:23 am
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The Champion Hurdle crown appears to be up for grabs in an open year and yet Sandown has reported a shortage of runners for the latest trial.
Despite losing much of January to the freeze, there were only six initial entries for Saturday’s Toteswinger Contenders Hurdle, meaning that the race was re-opened until this morning. That [...]
January 25, 2010 - 10:33 am
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The more things change the more they stay the same. The market for the Champion Hurdle was given a mighty shake-up over the weekend but there were some mixed signals.
Given that the market leader, Zaynar, is not due to run until Kelso in the middle of next month, this weekend’s races were always likely to [...]
January 22, 2010 - 2:43 pm
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Racegoers travelling to either Ascot or Haydock Park should probably take earplugs with them because the big guns are turning out.
The Grade One Victor Chandler Chase is the feature race on the Ascot card and, as a level-weights contest, it looks a penalty kick for Twist Magic. Or is it?
Sure, Kinkeel is rated just the [...]
January 20, 2010 - 3:00 pm
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The days when Irish-trained runners dominated the major prizes at the Cheltenham Festival may be receding into the more distant memory now but they will not lack for numbers in this year’s Champion Hurdle.
Having failed to even make the frame in the past two renewals of the Smurfit Kappa Champion Hurdle, Irish trainers appear set [...]
January 15, 2010 - 3:23 pm
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Guess what? They looked out at Kempton Park and have found something called grass where there used to be snow.
For those who have forgotten, this is what is used for something called jump racing. It was very popular in the last decade but has not been seen much of late.
Reports from Lambourn suggest that Nicky [...]
January 11, 2010 - 5:27 pm
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A strike-rate of 38% suggests that Nicky Henderson’s chasers are giving the trainer few problems but even success brings its complications.
The pained expression that Henderson wore as he walked the track with stable jockey Barry Geraghty at Cheltenham on New Year’s Day, prior to withdrawing Punchestowns from his intended run in the Dipper Novices’ Chase, [...]
