TRIUMPH Hurdle winner Pentland Hills heads up 10 entries for Saturday’s International Hurdle at Cheltenham. Nicky Henderson’s unbeaten four-year-old has been off the track since impressing at Aintree in the spring. Generally a 7-1 shot for the Champion Hurdle, his trainer took to Twitter to confirm his intention to run this weekend. He could line […]
TRIUMPH Hurdle winner Pentland Hills heads up 10 entries for Saturday’s International Hurdle at Cheltenham.
Nicky Henderson’s unbeaten four-year-old has been off the track since impressing at Aintree in the spring.
Generally a 7-1 shot for the Champion Hurdle, his trainer took to Twitter to confirm his intention to run this weekend.
He could line up alongside stablemate Call Me Lord, who was second in the Coral Hurdle at Ascot last month.
County Hurdle hero Ch’tibello has been entered by Dan Skelton, while owner Terry Warner could be represented by Elixir De Nutz and Gumball.
Monsieur Lecoq, Ballyandy, La Patriote and Umbrigado have also been nominated.
But one of the most interesting contenders is Australian jumper Big Blue.
Trained in partnership by Ciaron Maher and David Eustace, the seven-year-old was a Listed winner on the level and won a valuable hurdle Down Under at Warrnambool.
Maher said: “I was hoping to start him off in something a little bit easier, but the handicapper hasn’t given him a mark, which means we have to run in conditions races.
“It’s not ideal, but there aren’t really any other options for him coming up. We can cruise round and see where he fits in.
“The horse has been over here around a month. His last run was on Melbourne Cup day (5 November) – he travelled over after that.
“It’s a bit different for him. He has his summer coat on and he obviously came into some cold weather, but he seems fine.”
