Findlay backs his Big Fella Thanks

HARRY Findlay accepts he will have divided loyalties today as the runners parade before the Hennessy Gold Cup – one of steeplechasing's most prestigious, and enduring, handicaps.

He used to co-own the mighty Denman, who is seeking an unprecedented third Hennessy, until the professional gambler severed relations with champion trainer Paul Nicholls following a betting controversy.

However, his mother Maggie owns Big Fella Thanks – a former Nicholls inmate now trained in North Yorkshire by Ferdy Murphy and named in honour of Findlay's former champion greyhound.

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If top-weight Denman is leading approaching the final fence, with Big Fella Thanks, on a featherweight 10st, closing remorselessly, who will he be cheering?

"The Big Fella. He's named after my dog and the dog always comes first," says Findlay.

It was a typically forthright answer from Findlay – whose wife's family hail from South Yorkshire – after a high-profile dispute with the British Horseracing Authority that ended with him being given a six-month ban that was reduced to a 4,500 fine on appeal.

The deafening lack of support from the Nicholls yard – the BHA later agreed that there was no corrupt motive behind two technical rule breaches that preclude owners from backing their own horses to lose – led to Findlay selling his half-share in Denman to co-owner Paul Barber.

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Yet, while the fall-out from the controversy clearly rankles – and today's reunion at Newbury will require diplomacy on the part of all concerned – Findlay will never forget his association with Denman, the horse that he called 'the tank' after his brilliant frontrunning saw a Cheltenham Gold Cup sandwiched in between his 2007 and 2009 Hennessy triumphs.

He was by Denman's side as the horse returned to the winner's enclosure after many of his great triumphs.

"I always regarded Denman as more Paul Barber's horse than mine," said Findlay. "I feel I was let down. I now go racing very little, but when I do, the support from the public has been humbling.

"Nevertheless, the time I had with Denman was still cherished and, of course, I want him to do well. He's certainly the one to beat.

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"I won't have a problem cheering on Denman. In the Gold Cup this year, I think Nicholls and Tony McCoy, who rode him, were too negative."

With reference to the war film that dramatises the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in World War Two, Findlay added: "I sent McCoy three text messages beforehand – each with the words 'tora, tora, tora'. I didn't think McCoy went fast enough, like when Sam Thomas won on him in 2008. Nicholls and McCoy had too much respect for Kauto Star, the reigning champion, who fell and let in Imperial Commander to steal the spoils.

"No one knows more than a winning gambler, and we don't get enough respect. If I had been giving the instructions, I'd have been a lot more positive and I expect Sam to be so today now that he's back on the horse.

"I'm not surprised that they're saying at Paul Nicholls' that he's so well – I thought his fourth in the Punchestown Gold Cup, after Cheltenham, was his best ever performance."

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Though Nicholls did not allude to the Punchestown race where Denman was magnificent on a right-handed track that unsuited him, Nicholls is certainly bullish ahead of today's race.

"Of course he's got it all to do on Saturday off 11st 12lb and an 8lb higher mark than last year, but that will be offset to a degree by a lot of the runners being out of the handicap," he said after Thomas schooled the horse on Wednesday.

"We know he loves Newbury, he loves the hustle and bustle of the Hennessy and he seems to come good at this time of year. I couldn't be happier with him."

Yet with Denman, an imposing liver chestnut, now approaching 11 years of age and veteran status, the race appears tailor-made for a horse positioned at the bottom of the handicap. The Tom Scudamore-ridden Madison du Berlais, the 2008 Hennessy winner and a Newbury specialist, carries just 10st 1lb while Big Fella Thanks and Burton Port run off just 10st.

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Malton's Andy Tinkler will ride Nicky Henderson's Barber's Shop with Barry Geraghty being given the ride on Burton Port.

What is certain, given how Big Fella Thanks virtually pulled himself up on the run-in at Carlisle during his prep race when leading, is that his jockey, Graham Lee, will have to play a canny waiting game.

Murphy, who trained the 1992 Hennessy hero Sibton Abbey, is certainly unfazed at this prospect. A light weight and good going, he says, will play to the strengths of Big Fella Thanks.

"We've never had him better and I couldn't be happier with his preparation," he told the Yorkshire Post. "With 10st, he will think he's running loose. He's a massive big horse with a great shoulder.

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"The biggest thing will be the trip, Graham will have to ride a very patient and sensible race on him and get to the front a lot later than they did at Carlisle.

"Sibton Abbey was a dour stayer who won off 10st 2lb; it was a hot race because we beat Jodamai who went on to win the Gold Cup for Peter Beaumont. Big Fella Thanks has a lot more speed. I'd love to win it for Harry. For me, Big Fella Thanks is the only horse that matters.

Fighting fifth to run at Newbury

Reigning champion hurdler Binocular will get the chance to make his reappearance today after Newbury stepped in to host the Fighting Fifth Hurdle.

The Grade One contest was scheduled to take place at Newcastle but snow and frost have rendered that venue unraceable.

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Wetherby was ready to step in and host the race next weekend, but Newbury have filled the breach and the race will now be added to a high-class card that also features the Hennessy Gold Cup.

Newbury will now feature three Graded races as staying champion Big Buck's also makes his seasonal bow in the sportingbet.com Long Distance Hurdle.

The Stan James-sponsored Fighting Fifth will be run at 12.25pm, with the sportingbet.com Novices' Hurdle switched to 11.55pm.

Trainer Donald McCain is pleased the Fighting Fifth has been restaged as he prepares his runner Peddlers Cross.

He said: "Running it at Wetherby next week would have been great, but it would have meant waiting another week and the forecast is not great for the next few days."