Theatre set to take centre stage

Nicky Henderson is hoping Riverside Theatre will be worth the wait as he finally gets a crack at Ryanair Chase glory at Cheltenham today.

The eight-year-old was a leading contender for the race last season only to be ruled out by a hairline fracture of his pelvis, an injury that kept him on the sidelines until last month.

Riverside Theatre made a victorious return to action when landing the Ascot Chase, and Henderson believes the two-mile-five-furlong trip is his optimum.

He said: “This is Riverside Theatre’s trip, as he proved at Ascot, and we’ve been trying to get him here for two years.

“He had been off a long time and there wouldn’t be a huge amount of improvement in him, but you’d think that there wouldn’t need to be.”

Albertas Run has won the race for the last two years and will bid for a hat-trick for trainer Jonjo O’Neill.

He held off the re-opposing Kalahari King and Rubi Light in a thrilling finish in 2011, but has raced just once this term.

Although he won at Aintree back in October, rider Tony McCoy admits Albertas Run has not been an easy ride to the Festival.

“He’s 11 now and has been plenty hard to get right but Jonjo seems happy with him,” he said.

“I hope he’ll run very well but it’s an open race.’’

Rubi Light has enjoyed an excellent season for Robbie Hennessy, marked by his first Grade One win in the Punchestown Chase in December.

Although he fell on his seasonal bow at Gowran before being remounted to finish third, the seven-year-old regained the winning thread with that Punchestown success and has hardly looked back since.

Second to Synchronised over three miles in the Lexus Chase, Rubi Light rolls on to Cheltenham on the back of a Grade Two verdict in Gowran’s Red Mills Chase last time.

Hennessy, whose charge finished third in the Ryanair 12 months ago, said: “He has had a great season.

“Early on things didn’t go right when he had the fall at Gowran Park and then he got sick and missed a couple of engagements. But he bounced back brilliantly and has been great ever since.

“Last year he ran a cracking race on good ground but is a better horse on softer ground so the softer the better. He has plenty of pace and is very fast — there were even suggestions from some experts to run in the Champion Chase as he’s that fast.

“He acted well there last year and was more or less a novice, so he’s got another year behind him now.”

Somersby has hit the bar more than once on the big occasions but he finally enjoyed his day in the sun when landing the Victor Chandler Chase at Ascot.

The eight-year-old finished fifth in last year’s Champion Chase and trainer Henrietta Knight admits that shorter race had again been under consideration.

She said: “We were delighted to see him win last time, but we just need to keep it going.

“It was a bit of a toss-up as to which race we ran him in, but as he’s run twice over two miles at Cheltenham and not won, we thought it was worth trying a step up.

“The ground certainly won’t be a problem for him.

“I’m not sure whether it was the first-time cheek-pieces that made the difference last time, but I wasn’t going to take them off tomorrow.’’

Great Endeavour won the Paddy Power Gold Cup at the track last November and has since finished fourth in the Hennessy before flopping back at Cheltenham before Christmas.

“He was very impressive in the Paddy Power and he didn’t quite see out the trip in the Hennessy,” said trainer David Pipe.

“The next time at Cheltenham was probably one race too many as it was his third in five weeks.

“He’s always been a horse we’ve thought a lot of and is best fresh.”

The Tom Cooper-trained Forpadydeplasterer, winner of the 2009 Arkle, makes another trip to the Festival after a career which has seen him secure eight second-placed finishes in Grade One contests.

Bryan Cooper rides the horse for his father and thinks a longer trip could help to regain a little of his old sparkle.

“He has paid his way so well, people are saying he’s lost his old ability but he hasn’t, he’s just lost his speed, and I think he’ll run a cracker when it’s good ground,” he said.

“The quicker they go the better.”