Henderson team set to clash
Thursday 9 August 2012
Nicky Henderson admits some of his stable stars will inevitably have to lock horns at some stage this season.
The master of Seven Barrows has tremendous depth in almost every division and has a particularly strong team of staying chasers to look forward to, with established staying stars Long Run and Riverside Theatre set to be joined by top novice Bobs Worth.
"Bobs Worth will probably start off in the Hennessy. I think that's the right race for him and he probably prefers going left-handed rather than right-handed," Henderson told At The Races.
The handler also has a wealth of talent in the two-mile division, including Champion Chase victor Finian's Rainbow and the potential superstar Sprinter Sacre.
"The idea would be to step Finian's Rainbow up in trip and really have a look at him. He'd be heading King George way, but then so will Long Run and Riverside Theatre.
"There has to be a clash in the King George I fear, so that's a headache, but it's nice. It's pressure but it's pressure we like dealing with."
One of the most exciting young horses in Henderson's yard is undoubtedly Simonsig, a brilliant winner of novice hurdles at both Cheltenham and Aintree in the spring, who may revert to the minimum trip when starting out over fences.
"I would have no hesitation coming back to two miles. Barry (Geraghty) just felt that two and a half would help him over hurdles, but I think if he went to fences you'd probably see him coming back to two. I would like to think he's an Arkle horse," said Henderson.
"He definitely stays, he stayed two and a half miles well at Cheltenham, but he's a frightening horse in that his gears are all there. He has a very high cruising speed.
"Every now and then you have to do bits of work with these horses and I would let him play around Sprinter Sacre and things like that. It's a bit frightening doing that, but as long as you've got very sensible boys on board, you can do it. If you didn't, you could get yourself into a lot of trouble."
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