Call on Altior’s Cheltenham Festival fitness likely to go ‘down to the wire’

NICKY Henderson is to give Altior “every chance” to recover from lameness before tomorrow’s Betway Queen Mother Champion Chase at Cheltenham.
By Tom Richmond
Published 9th Mar 2020, 16:35 BST
Updated 9th Mar 2020, 17:43 BST
Dual Queen Mother Champion Chase winner Altior, trained by Nicky Henderson and the mount of Nico de Boinvillem, has suffered an injury scare on the eve of the Cheltenham Festival.Dual Queen Mother Champion Chase winner Altior, trained by Nicky Henderson and the mount of Nico de Boinvillem, has suffered an injury scare on the eve of the Cheltenham Festival.
Dual Queen Mother Champion Chase winner Altior, trained by Nicky Henderson and the mount of Nico de Boinvillem, has suffered an injury scare on the eve of the Cheltenham Festival.
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And while Altior heads the seven entries for the two-mile race, Henderson says the physical fitness of Altior needs to improve still further before he lines up against rising star Defi du Seuil and Ireland’s top two-mile chaser Chacun Pour Soi.

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Grand National legend Tiger Roll will line up in Cheltenham's cross country race on Wednesday.Grand National legend Tiger Roll will line up in Cheltenham's cross country race on Wednesday.
Grand National legend Tiger Roll will line up in Cheltenham's cross country race on Wednesday.

The horse has been using a water treadmill to treat a dormant splint and Henderson said: “He has improved considerably. If it continues to improve as much as it has done, he’s got every chance.

“We have to give him every chance, it’s only right. If it was today, no you wouldn’t (run), but the improvement has been significant enough to justify leaving him in and seeing how we are going tomorrow. If necessary we’ll have to take it to the wire.”

He added: “He’s nothing like as touchy on the splint today as he was yesterday. When you pressed it he was sore, but he’s much less reactive today and he is much sounder.

“I think a lot of it is he actually needs to sort of get a bit of belief in himself again, he’s been sore for 48 hours – it’s nothing like as sore, so the horse just needs to believe.

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“He’s exercising and is in the treadmill again and can do plenty of work in that. We can do plenty of work in there, which keeps everything moving.”

Beaten for the first time over jumps at Ascot in November, Patricia Pugh’s gelding returned to his best in the Game Spirit Chase at Newbury last month. Should he line up, Altior will be bidding for his fifth win at the Festival, having taken the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle and Arkle Trophy before his two Champion Chase victories.

Meanwhile, Tiger Roll will bid to win Cheltenham’s cross country race for the third year running tomorrow. The Gordon Elliott-trained 10-year-old is going for a fifth Festival win in total after also taking the Triumph Hurdle in 2014 and the National Hunt Chase in 2017.

The dual Grand National hero features in a maximum field of 16 before he attempts to land a record-breaking hat-trick in the world’s greatest steeplechase.

Related topics:YorkshireIreland

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