NICKY HENDERSON is hoping his young pretender Long Run can finally help him secure the totesport Cheltenham Gold Cup.
His six-year-old takes on the old guard in this afternoon’s Festival feature with the winners of the past four renewals set to line up in opposition.
While last year’s winner Imperial Commander revels around Prestbury Park with six wins from 10 starts, Long Run has been third on both his starts there.
He was third to Weapon’s Amnesty at last year’s Festival in the RSA Chase and occupied the same position in the Paddy Power Gold Cup at the start of the season.
But if he can reproduce the scintillating form of his King George VI Chase victory at Kempton, when he denied Kauto Star a record-breaking fifth success in the race, he would be the one to beat.
Although Henderson knows his young star will have to be at his best to stop Imperial Commander, dual hero Kauto Star and 2008 winner Denman, he is hopeful he can become the first of his age to win since Mill House in 1963.
Henderson said: “I still think Kauto Star is the horse I respect the most in the race and have no doubt in this year’s King George we didn’t see the same Kauto as we did before.
“Long Run might be very, very good, but we were also second at Kempton with Riverside Theatre and I’m not sure that can all be correct. If he comes back as we all like to know him, he’s still the one to beat. We’re the youngster, the pretender and he’s only six. But I couldn’t honestly say that he’ll be much better at seven because as with a lot of these French horses, at this age their precocity is enormous.
“He looks fantastic, everything has gone well. Yes, he might improve next year but I suspect if he’s going to do it, it might be this year. We never planned to run him again since Kempton and we’ve got to take on the really big boys.
“But I have to tell you Mill House (1963) was the last six-year-old to win the Gold Cup.”
Long Run will again be partnered by his owner’s son, amateur jockey Sam Waley-Cohen. Some feel having him on board is not ideal against the pros like Ruby Walsh, Tony McCoy and Paddy Brennan. But Waley-Cohen was excellent at Kempton. And he is hopeful he can win today.
He said: “As it gets closer and closer it becomes more and more real, but the last couple of months have been pretty relaxed.
“You can’t do more than be judged by your actions and it was great that the horse ran so well at Kempton and it all came together.
“It’s an accusation (his alleged inability to handle Cheltenham) that’s very easy to make and one you’ve got to answer.
“Going into the RSA last season there were some niggling doubts about whether he was in the best form – maybe he wasn’t as sparky as we wanted. I don’t have any concerns about the course.
“Good racehorses are not just about being able to put one leg in front of the other and go fast. It’s also about desire and heart and courage. That’s one of his great talents but it also makes him a challenge to ride.”
Imperial Commander was the new kid on the block 12 months ago, but spoiled the supposed shoot-out between Kauto Star and Denman, when he galloped to Gold Cup glory.
Now he is there to be shot at.
But Nigel Twiston-Davies’ 10-year-old returns back ready to defend his title. In his two runs since winning last year he has had differing fortunes on Merseyside.
He fell in the totesport Bowl at Aintree weeks after his Gold Cup win, but returned back in form when winning the Betfair Chase at Haydock on his only start this season. Despite picking up a slight injury, Twiston-Davies is delighted with his champion ahead of his bid to land back-to-back victories.
The Naunton handler said: “Everything has been 100% with him for the last few weeks. There’s a bit of rain forecast depending on who you listen to, but I don’t think it really matters at all to him.
“He won on good ground last year, but he’s won on soft plenty of times. There’s a lot of talk about the old and new guard, but they’ve all got him to beat.”
