Jump racing’s capacity to deliver sensation is a thing to be marvelled at. A 10-minute period on Sunday produced a seemingly impossible return to form bya former champion here while in Ireland a previously unbeaten star was somehow bested by a stablemate. The winter will be a short one if this level of drama can be sustained from one weekend to the next but surely there can be no further shocks in store on a par with the one that returned Sprinter Sacre to the winner’s enclosure for the first time since April 2013.
Victory was not the surprise, for this was a winnable contest and there might still have been people calling for him to be retired, out of respect for his former greatness, had he scrambled home with no more than a neck to spare. Instead, as this race unfolded, there was a gradual realisation that Sprinter Sacre is somehow back to being the kind of beast that can break his rivals’ hearts.
His trainer, Nicky Henderson, made positive noises in advance of this first run since spring but he had also been cautiously upbeat before each of the three defeats last season. That there might be more substantial reason for hope this time became apparent when Sprinter Sacre arrived in the paddock, looking once more like the beau ideal of the steeplechaser, carrying himself like a king. Of course, there was no way to know what was going on under that perfect surface, which is why paddock judging is of limited relevance with a horse whose problems have involved heart murmurs and burst blood vessels.
Those and other concerns circulated in the mind of many a spectator here as far as the fourth-last, where Sprinter Sacre, having coasted along with all his old familiar ease, put in a mighty leap that carried him to the fore. It was immediately clear that the rest could not live with him and the sole remaining question was whether he could keep going up the final hill.
That turned into quite a slog, a serious test for an animal with his history of setbacks, but he still had an imperious 14 lengths in hand as he crossed the line, roared home by an appreciative crowd that later gave him spontaneous rounds of applause as he returned and as he was unsaddled. Everyone loves a last hurrah for an ageing hero but this success carried also the thrill of anticipation as thoughts turned to what Sprinter Sacre might do over the next four months.
“I wouldn’t go so far as to say he’s back and get really carried away about it,” said Nico de Boinville, his jockey, “because we know it can all go wrong. But that’s as close to being back as I think we’re going to get.”
De Boinville, who has always been Sprinter Sacre’s work rider, got to ride him in public only when Barry Geraghty quit as Henderson’s principal jockey earlier this year, so he was entitled to be thrilled by this first win on the horse. “It’s just a tremendous feeling, probably as close to flying as you’re going to get,” he said.
“It’s pretty emotional stuff because it’s been a long time in the wilderness,” Henderson said. “The doubters were there to say, how long do you go on doing this? How long do we go on believing you?”
The Lambourn trainer pointed out that under the conditions of this race Sprinter Sacre was carrying less weight than any of his rivals. “He had to win today, to be fair. And if we didn’t, there was going to be some serious soul-searching.”
In hindsight Henderson feels that a wind operation last autumn may have been the reason why the real Sprinter Sacre was not seen in the following months. “We just cauterised his palate again. It’s a very simple procedure but, to me, it actually knocked him back. Before the season began I had him in the wrong place. I never got back to it.”
Next month’s Tingle Creek is an obvious target in the short term but Henderson stressed the thing which matters most is to get Sprinter Sacre to the Champion Chase here in March, for which he is now 5-1 from 25s. Missing other races en route would provoke disappointment but the trainer has earned the right to be careful, having pulled off one of the more remarkable feats ever achieved in his line of work by conjuring a performance like this from a horse so many had written off.
No one is yet writing off Faugheen after he failed at odds of 1-6 to reel in Nichols Canyon in the Morgiana Hurdle at Punchestown. Willie Mullins, who trains both, said the runner-up had left Nichols Canyon “for dead” when they worked together on Tuesday.
“Faugheen was a little disappointing. Ruby [Walsh] said he hung but horses hang when they get tired. Maybe he just met a good horse.
“They went a good gallop and Nichols did it the hard way out in front. He jumped fantastic. Maybe he has improved more. Until he tells me something wasn’t right, I’m not making any excuses for Faugheen.
“We’ll see how they come out of the race. They’ll be entered in all those races that Champion Hurdle horses should be in. They’ll probably have to take each other on but if we can keep them apart we will.”
Faugheen is now 15-8 from 11-10 to win a second Champion Hurdle in March, while Nichols Canyon is 6-1 second-favourite from 16-1. Henderson’s Peace And Co is the most fancied non-Mullins runner on 10-1.
