‘Just one’ will help ease the pain of 12 months ago for Henderson

Nicky Henderson is keen to confine last year’s Cheltenham Festival nightmare to the history books as he once again prepares to lead the home defence at Prestbury Park.

When it comes to targeting his equine stars at National Hunt racing’s showpiece event, the master of Seven Barrows has few peers, with his tally of 73 Festival winners putting him in a clear second on the all-time list behind the man that has dominated the sport in recent years, Willie Mullins (103).

Henderson has been leading trainer at the meeting on nine occasions, won a record nine Champion Hurdles, six Champion Chases and a couple of Gold Cups – and yet the 74-year-old would be forgiven for returning to the Cotswolds with a degree of trepidation – or even a point to prove – after a 2024 Festival he would rather forget.

For the first time in 16 years, the six-time champion trainer returned to Lambourn empty handed, and in truth the alarm bells were ringing long before he even set foot on the stage.

Constitution Hill’s mid-February blowout in a Kempton gallop not only derailed his bid for back-to-back Champion Hurdle triumphs, but also set the tone for a bitterly disappointing run of stable form which came to a head when five of his six runners on the opening day of the Festival were pulled up.

Henderson ultimately decided to take evasive action by withdrawing several horses, including his “A-team” trio of leading Queen Mother Champion Chase contender Jonbon, Gold Cup hopeful Shishkin and star juvenile Sir Gino from the Triumph Hurdle.

Almost a year on, Henderson cut a much happier figure when welcoming the racing media to his annual pre-Cheltenham stable visit on a cold February Monday, albeit the demons of 12 months ago have not yet been fully banished.

“We’ve sat here for years. You guys come and see us, which is lovely, because I’ve always said the day you don’t want to come and see us, it means I’ve got nothing worth showing you or talking about, so we like seeing you,” said Henderson.

“We had no chance last year. We ran a few and we had a couple of seconds and thirds, including Luccia who got third in the Champion Hurdle.

“I can remember a few that ran well, but we left the A-team behind. You can never take anything for granted in this game.”

There is no doubt that at the time of writing at least, prospects appear much brighter for the team ahead of Cheltenham 2025.

Constitution Hill is seemingly as good as ever as he looks to wrestle back the Champion Hurdle crown, Jonbon is undoubtedly the standard setter in the Champion Chase and Lulamba and Palladium are two big darts to throw at the Triumph.

Sir Gino is absent again, though, after a recent setback left him hospitalised – and with last year still fresh in the memory, Henderson is in no position to get carried away.

“You just want one. One will be good,” he went on.

“The only time I have ever been confident about anything was Altior’s Supreme. It didn’t matter what Willie brought over that year, he wasn’t going to beat him!

“But we have always said, you would settle for one (winner) – you just want one. But if you can have one on the first day, you get the bit between your teeth and get on with it.

“That one is absolutely crucial and didn’t we half find that out last year, because none is horrendous.

“You know it gets harder because look at what happened the other week (with Sir Gino). You just know that is around everybody’s corner, you’re going to get hit and unfortunately we got hit, which was tragic.”

Given the events of last season, it was no great surprise that Henderson’s press morning was a little more low-key than has previously been the case, with just four horses paraded in front of those fortunate enough to be there.

The first two led out of a modified “house” which they share were the superstar pair of Constitution Hill and Jonbon, who while both brilliant, could hardly be more contrasting in their demeanour.

Jonbon was more than happy to pose for the cameras and look each member of the press present in the eye, whereas Constitution Hill appeared to be wondering what all the fuss was about.

Henderson said: “The two are so completely different, one is so switched off and the other is permanently switched on!

“They’ve always been the same and they’re chalk and cheese to be honest with you, but they’re great.

“They live in their little house together, but that’s purely by coincidence. We had to build that bit for Constitution Hill this year, so he has his field and his house and his roof.

“Constitution Hill is the most laid-back character you will ever come across and Jonbon is a complete fusspot.

“Constitution Hill would stand still for two days. I could tie him up to that telegraph pole and come and get him back in the morning, he’d be fine!”

Constitution Hill is a red-hot favourite to provide his trainer with a 10th Champion Hurdle a full 40 years after three-time winner See You Then landed his first.

Henderson might be long past retirement age, but it is clear the fire still burns bright.

“We’re lucky to still be here, but you’re always going to be here if you’ve got these sort of horses,” he said.

“We’re very lucky, we’ve got some very high-class horses. I won’t say we’ve got a yard full of them because to have those good ones you actually have to have a few bad ones as well.

“You’ve got to have fresh blood coming in and they can’t all be stars, but the more you get to play with, the more chance you’ve got of finding the good ones.

“We’ve all had to change a bit over the years. I was talking to John Francome the other day and we were reminiscing. He started at Fred Winter’s the same time as I did – that was a long time ago (1974).

“You talk about eras, at that time going into Cheltenham one year we had the likes of Pendil, Bula, Crisp, Killiney and Lanzarote. Jeepers, we had some horses, then over the wall at Fulke Walwyn’s, Mill House had only just retired and Arkle was only just gone. They were spectacular horses.”

From See You Then to Sprinter Sacre and Constitution Hill, Henderson has had a few spectacular horses himself. The Cheltenham faithful are sure to give him a very warm reception if, as expected, he can lay to rest the ghost of 2024 and once again walk into the hallowed winner’s enclosure.