nicky henderson and horns of a dilemma.

​Nicky Henderson is a racehorse trainer of outstanding insight into the mind and well-being of the horses put in his charge by owners who expect the highest of equine standards. His record is all the evidence required to prove his credentials. If he can be criticised at all over his withdrawal of Altior from the Tingle Creek this weekend past, it is his comment in the Racing Post on the morning of the race that Altior would definitely run despite his concern about the heavy conditions ‘as it fitted in with his programme and where else is there to run him?’ Or words to that effect.
If he had run Altior and he had run poorly the trainer would be asked to explain and as was the case with Sprinter Sacre, there would an outcry for the horse to be retired as he was obviously a shade of the horse he once was.
The prosecution, of course, say that Henderson is being disingenuous as Altior has won numerous times on soft and in deed heavy ground. The defence will point to the debacle of Ascot and his defeat to Cyrname, a race that bottomed both horses for the remainder of the season. Henderson is haunted by his unprofessional, as he doubtless views it, decision to run Altior when his heart and head demanded otherwise.
Realistically Altior has only one last shot at regaining the 2-mile crown. He is ten, closing in on eleven. Twelve-year-olds do not win Champion 2-mile Chases. It is understandable if Henderson chooses Cheltenham over every race twixt now and then, even if we, the racing public, are gagging to see the great horse run as many times as possible before he goes off to the paddocks for what we hope will prove to be a long and contented retirement.
It is my opinion that Henderson made the correct decision on Saturday and the rest of us will just have to suck it up. The stewards, on the other hand, made a poor decision not to fine Henderson for not running Altior. He was the star act, according to their own description of the ground Henderson did not have a legitimate reason for withdrawing and in not running he disappointed the viewing public. Trainers greatest responsibility is to their horses and as such Henderson behaved appropriately. But in future, say come Kempton the day after Boxing Day, if it should rain through the night, will he withdraw Altior again. You certainly couldn’t back Altior ante-post given the trainer’s stated approval for ‘decent ground’ for the horse to run.
On the general ease in which a horse can be withdrawn on the day of the race something should be done. The 48-hour declaration is a good initiative and should continue in my opinion but it leaves trainers with alternatives in the following days. Although trainers will through up their hands in horror at such a suggestion, I think any horse withdrawn on the morning of a race for any reason other than welfare (injury or illness) should not be allowed to run for five or six days. This rather draconian rule would give trainers pause for thought and put a handbrake on the increasing trend of late withdrawals.
The ‘monster’ that is the Cheltenham Festival, even if it is a rather beautiful monster, is beginning to run out of hand. Dan Skelton is right; the Festival is becoming too dominating, with the rest of the pre-March race-programme becoming devalued as a result. But how can it be remedied without advocating qualifying races throughout the season for the championship races? Should a horse have to run in a Grade 1 during the season before it is eligible for the Festival? That is the only method I can invent to improve the situation, and I do not pretend it is a sure-fire solution to the problem.
The biggest annoyance on Saturday was not the non-appearance of Altior but the recurring health and safety problem of the low sun and the taking out of fences. The Many Clouds Chase at Aintree is the latest in a long list of races rendered a farce because of the natural occurrence at this time of year of a low sun. Is there any thought going on at the B.H.A. as to how to get around this problem? I doubt it. In cricket they use a white screen so that the batsmen can pick up the ball in flight. Could some sort of shade be erected at the end of tracks where the sun is being a nuisance? Or invented. It is a low sun, not a high sun, so any kind of dark shield or shade need not be very tall. It only needs to be stable, transportable and manoeuvrable. And not too heavy, I suspect. We can fly men to the moon, apparently, we can rebuild broken bodies and invent solutions to what for centuries have been insoluble problems. Yet like being unable to cure the common cold, we cannot put sunglasses on a low sun.
Of course, the other alternative would be to schedule race-meetings in December earlier in the day. You know the sun always sets at the same time this time of year, don’t you, B.H.A.?
Having said that, I was disappointed with Frodon. I fancied him for the Gold Cup and Tom Segal had him as his tip for the King George, yet after Saturday, even if you take into account that flat tracks do not play to his strengths and taking out eight fences was definitely against him, he did fade out of contention quite tamely. If he was my horse (if only) I would skip Kempton, go to the Cotswold Chase and then perhaps the Gold Cup. Frodon is a Cheltenham horse, plain and simple.
In the Becher Chase, David Pipe discovered that Ramses De Teillee is not a National horse, which is something Paul Nichols is none the wiser about for Yala Enki who like a thousand horses before him over-jumped and landed on his head at the first fence.
One last thing, Vieux Lion Rouge must be getting close to holding the record for the most Aintree fences jumped. Nine runs, nine completions, including four in the Grand National. A horse that must be a joy to own. A great credit to his trainer. I am a member of the David Pipe Racing Club; one day I hope to go to Pond House to offer him a carrot. The horse, I mean, not David Pipe.