Big Newbury meeting rescheduled for Friday
Betfair have added further prize-money to the card to ensure the Betfair Hurdle will remain the most valuable handicap hurdle race in Europe, as well as making access for punters free to see the likes of Long Run.
The Betfair Super Saturday Chase, better known as the Game Spirit, will kick off the rescheduled seven-race card at 12.15pm on Friday.
Exciting novice Sprinter Sacre had been pencilled in for that race, while his Cheltenham Gold Cup-winning stablemate Long Run was set to line up in the Betfair Denman Chase.
Both horses will have to be re-entered today if they are to head to the replacement meeting, which Henderson suggested earlier in the day they would do.
He said: “I do want Sprinter Sacre to have another run and I think Long Run is better with a run.
“It would be another week to Newbury and we’re getting closer (to Cheltenham) but I think he’d run again.
“We need to run the horses and depending what exactly they put on, I’d hope we’d be supporting it with the same sort of team.”
The BHA confirmed that the Betfair Hurdle, the Betfair Denman Chase and the Betfair Super Saturday Chase would be saved, along with the Scilly Isles’ Novices’ Chase, already rescheduled from a meeting abandoned at Sandown.
Champion trainer Paul Nicholls voiced his agreement, saying in his Betfair blog: “Losing Newbury tomorrow was a big blow – but at least it has been softened by the news that the whole meeting has been transferred to next Friday, live on Channel 4.
“So fair play to all concerned in making this happen.
“And it is especially pleasing to see that the Betfair Hurdle retains its original prize money of £152,500 and will still be run as Europe’s richest handicap hurdle, despite the race being run on a Friday.
“Last year (when restaged) it was run for a fraction of that, with the winner only getting just over £34,000.
“As long as they are all fit and well, then all the horses I was going to run at Newbury tomorrow will turn out next Friday – and that includes Zarkandar (Betfair Hurdle).
“I would not be overly-concerned if a lot of my horses had to go straight to Cheltenham – I can get them fresh, fit and well at home – but it is a different story for horses that haven’t yet run this season. So Zarkandar will run.”
