Crucial gallop for Synchro
Having been dubbed as a mudlark in the past, the nine-year-old surprised plenty of people when handling the sounder surface and bolting up in the Lexus Chase at Leopardstown over Christmas.
He now heads the betting for next weekend’s Hennessy and although O’Neill suggested there were some doubts about his participation on Thursday, Frank Berry, racing manager for owner JP McManus, remains hopeful the gelding could yet make the line-up.
“At the moment the intention is for him to run, but it all depends on how he works next week,” said Berry.
“We obviously want to run him back at Leopardstown. He puts a lot into his races and he did that over Christmas.
“We want to make sure he is all right so if he works well in the middle of next week, the intention would be to go for the Hennessy.”
Connections of Binocular meanwhile will have to go back to the drawing board after the abandonment of today’s card at Sandown.
The 2010 Champion Hurdle winner had been set to take in the Contenders Hurdle as part of his preparation for next month’s Cheltenham Festival, a Listed prize he has secured for the past two seasons.
But with the fixture beaten by the cold snap, Nicky Henderson will have to find his classy hurdler an alternative prep race in the next week or two.
The Red Mills Hurdle at Gowran Park in Ireland, the Kingwell Hurdle at Wincanton and the Morebattle Hurdle at Kelso are all potential destinations.
“Is it stands at the moment, I don’t know where he’ll run,” said owner JP McManus’ racing manager Frank Berry.
“We’re going to have to wait and see what happens with the weather. We have a few options, but we can’t say for definite which way he’s going yet, so we’ll just wait and see.”
