WATCH out Willie — Hendo’s up for having you! Now there’s a thought for 2025.
So, what do I mean?
Well, there will be no shirking big clashes in 2025 says Nicky Henderson after he slayed the mighty champion of Ireland, Willie Mullins, at Kempton over Christmas.
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Henderson was in bouncing form when I spoke to him the other day, and who can blame the master of Seven Barrows on the back of the fabulous winning return of Constitution Hill and success for his beastie stable companion Sir Gino.
Constitution Hill became the first horse to land the Christmas Hurdle three times in destroying Mullins’s Lossiemouth, who found the track all too much of a speed test.
Sir Gino beat up Ballyburn in the Wayward Lad, a race Henderson has landed in the past with no less than stars Remittance Man, Sprinter Sacre, Altior and Shishkin.
Some accuse Henderson of running scared of a challenge before the Festival and wrapping his best horses in cotton wool.
But ‘Hendo’ is keen to emphasise that is nonsense, and he’s up for a challenge with the right horse at the right time.
“I enjoyed Kempton,” Henderson told me.
“A lot of people said Boxing Day and the day after were good for British racing and I have had a lot of nice messages from people — quite senior people — saying that’s what we need more of.
“British racing needs horses like Constitution Hill.
“I appreciate that. We are always trying to do our best for British racing.
“It’s easy to say now when these horses are running well, but people will not need to be reminded what it was like in March.
“I had the horses but I couldn’t do anything with them. Missing Cheltenham was desperate. It hurt. It was brutal.
“We knew we had the cavalry but we couldn’t use them. It was shocking.
“Now they are fantastic. I have them all where I want them and they are all going the right way.
“It all seems fairly easy and we have confidence to go out there and fight them.”
On the track Henderson and Mullins are arch rivals. Off it, though, they seem pals.
“Willie and I have always had a good time in battles,” Henderson continued.
“No one shirked the Shishkin v Energumene clash.
“We don’t shirk these races. We are trying to get the right preparation in. If you are going to bump into them you are going to bump into them.
“I didn’t expect Lossiemouth or Ballyburn to turn up at Kempton. But when they said they were coming we just got on with it.
“Ronnie Bartlett, the owner of Ballyburn, is one of my closest friends and owners.
“We have had a lot of fun together over the years. As we said to each other before the race one of us is going to have to come down from on high.
“Only a few months ago I went to stay with Ronnie up in Wales, and Willie was there and Phillip Hobbs and we all had a great time off the pitch. We also have a good time on the pitch, but we are all fighting for the same thing.”
Sir Gino was making his chasing debut, and his effort was all part of Henderson plotting a future path.
He added: “It was good fun having the clashes. But it was good fun from my side of it — probably not from Willie’s either!
“If both of mine had got thumped I’d be the gloomiest man in England wouldn’t I? Right now, we can stand up and say we’ve just got to get these boys to Cheltenham next year in one piece.”
Come on then, 2025. Bring it on. No shirking in this column or from Hendo.
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