ALTIOR.

​When Big Bucks retired it never crossed my mind that his record of 18 races unbeaten would be broken. If asked, I would have said it would not happen in my life-time. So as long as I keep breathing until the middle of March, I will at least witness the record being equalled and if Altior goes to Aintree in April, for the 3-mile chase if Nicky Henderson takes my advice, with ordinary good fortune I will, if my life is spared until then, watch in awe as Big Bucks is shuffled down the pecking order to ‘only Altior beat his sequence of wins’.
Altior is undoubtedly a brilliant horse; almost certainly the best National Hunt horse trained either here or in Ireland. But is he yet on the same sphere as Sprinter Sacre, a superstar who can be talked about in the same breath as the equine legends that preceded him? I don’t think so. Not as yet, anyway.
This is not a vintage era for 2-mile chasers, which does Altior no favours, with his only serious rival, at least at the start of the season, Footpad proving a bit of a disappointment so far. For a horse to become a true great, to be a rung higher than the mere great horses that win Gold Cups, Champion Hurdles etc, even multiple times, he or she must win against horses that are considered possibly their equal if not until conquered their superior. Altior is yet to achieve anything more remarkable than to win races he is expected all known form to win. It can be argued that in winning the Champion Chase last season he pulled the fat from out of the fire as even entering the straight he did not look the most likely winner.
Arkle beat Mill House, the horse his trainer, the legendary Fulke Walwyn, nominated unequivocally as the best horse he ever trained. For the sake of racing history, it is a regret that Arkle and Flyingbolt never met on a racecourse as that would have proved one way or the other whether Pat Taaffe was correct in his judgement that Arkle would have beaten Flyingbolt with something to spare. Incidentally Pat Taaffe put Mill House ahead of Flyingbolt in his list of best horses ridden. And, of course, Kauto Star beat Denman, as Denman beat Kauto Star, the two most recent great and legendary racehorses.
Apart from the admirable Un De Sceaux, who it can be fairly argued is better over 2-miles 4, Altior has not beaten anything approaching the top echelon of steeplechasers. Sprinter Sacre did give Sizing Europe a thorough beating in his first Champion Chase victory, even if Sizing Europe may have been a few pounds short of his best on the day. I am not convinced Altior has beaten anything yet of Sizing Europe’s quality. Indeed, in his miraculous comeback in the 2016 Champion Chase, Sprinter Sacre beat Special Tiara and Un De Sceaux who went on in 2017 to respectively win the Champion Chase and the Ryanair, a form-line that over fences Altior has yet to come close to equalling.
Of course, all my reticence will be blown out of the water if Altior proves that 3-miles is within his capabilities and wins the King George, which will raise him up to a rung on the ladder that will allow him to spoken of alongside Desert Orchid and Kauto Star.
Although jockey and trainer were unconcerned by Altior jumping out to his left in the Clarence House, I was unnerved by it. What cannot be denied is that Altior is a brilliant jumper of a fence and that type of horse, though they may fall, as did Kauto Star, Denman and Desert Orchid, they do not ordinarily suddenly start running down a fence. Doubtless Nicky Henderson will get him checked over this week and over the coming days every inspection of his legs and every inspection of his movement will be accompanied by the haunting fear of finding something amiss and we all must keep our fingers crossed that no explanation for his out-of-character jumping comes to light.
Personally, I think something is amiss. Perhaps in his withers or shoulder. I pray to a God I don’t believe in that if there is an injury it is neither ligament, tendon or bone. If I were a betting man, especially ante-post, I would be hedging some money on Footpad, Min or something else, just in case Altior doesn’t make it to the Festival. What a loss he would be!