Henderson unveils Cheltenham prospect
Nicky Henderson introduced a potentially exciting prospect when Back To Ben Alder spread-eagled the opposition at Kempton today.
Two days after losing Bacchanal, the former Stayers’ Hurdle winner at Cheltenham, Henderson harbours hopes of Festival glory with another son of that horse’s sire, Bob Back.
Back To Ben Alder, who had cost his connections 88,000 Irish guineas three years ago, was well touted ahead of his racecourse debut in the first division of the Future Stars Standard Open National Hunt Flat race and was sent off the 15-8 favourite.
His supporters never had an anxious moment once he eased into the lead under Marcus Foley shortly after turning for home, and he cruised home 13 lengths clear of Forever Dream.
The form may be hard to evaluate but Henderson had no hesitation in nominating the Guinness Champion Bumper at Cheltenham for the imposing six-year-old.
“It’s extraordinary,” said Henderson. “I love Bob Back as a sire and you lose Bacchanal on Saturday, and now maybe we’ve found another Bob Back for us.
“He’s got a huge amount of ability. He was terribly weak last year. I tried to get him on the track a couple of times but he just wasn’t ready for it.
“All he’s done here is prove what we always thought he was and if anyone says there’s one better than that I’d love to know where it is!
“He’s a horse for the future, but whether he would go and have a look at that Newbury bumper on the way to Cheltenham I don’t know.”
Thirty minutes later Hawk’s Landing, runner-up in a bumper at Thurles in October, took the second division in impressive fashion on his first start since joining Jonjo O’Neill.
Hawk’s Landing, on whom amateur Kevin Power wore JP McManus’s green and gold silks, eased away in the last two furlongs to beat Distant Thunder by three lengths in a time similar to that posted by Back To Ben Alder.
“I’m glad the two didn’t clash,” said O’Neill, confirming that Hawk’s Landing would be aimed at the Festival bumper.
O’Neill added that two of his leading contenders for Championship contests at Cheltenham, Keen Leader and Rhinestone Cowboy, are scheduled to run “weather permitting” at Wetherby this Saturday.
Henderson and Foley had earlier been successful with Hersov in the Master Bavin’s Chancers And Charmers Novice Chase.
Hersov, who had made a successful start over fences at Leicester last month, thwarted favourite Over The Storm by a neck.
Ladbrokes clipped Hersov to 33-1 from 40-1 for the Royal & SunAlliance Chase at the Festival, but Henderson was unsure if that race would suit the seven-year-old.
“He’d nearly look the ideal type for the National Hunt Chase when it was a race for proper maidens who hadn’t won over hurdles,” he said.
Richard Rowe continued his good recent run when Gladtoknowyou overcame an absence of almost three years to land the ‘Kempton For Weddings’ Novices Handicap Chase on only his fourth outing.
Gladtoknowyou galloped on powerfully from the last under Leighton Aspell to outstay Flinders Chase and Keltic Heritage by three quarters of a length, and a length and three-quarters.
“He’s really a three-mile horse but having been off for 1,045 days I thought he might be a bit fresh and over two and a half miles round here you are going to get a good strong pace,” said Rowe.
“He’s has so many niggling problems and if I could have turned the clock back I’d have fired him three years ago rather than only 18 months ago. We were messing around patching him up and thankfully Bill Packham, a very patient owner, has given him all the time in the world.
“He’s done bags of work at home and had been schooling very well and I had no worries about coming here. He’s done his job well and battled well. Now we can make some plans for him, although you have to put it into perspective. I know it was Kempton but it was a 0-115 race that you could have got around Folkestone.”
