Nicky Henderson pleased with Chantry House ahead of Boxing Day’s King George VI Chase

NICKY HENDERSON was perplexed by Chantry House until the steeplechaser won a low key race at Wetherby in February before landing the Grade One Marsh Novices’ Chase at the Cheltenham Festival just four weeks later.

Now the JP McManus-owned horse is a leading contender for the Ladbrokes King George VI Chase – the highlight of the Christmas racing programme – at Kempton as Henderson looks to add to Long Run’s wins in 2010 and 2012.

And Henderson has genuine grounds for optimism – Chantry House confirmed the Cheltenham form by winning a Grade One novice chase at Aintree’s Grand National meeting before making a winning reappearance at Sandown last month.

Though the Sandown comeback was, in many respects, slightly facile after just two horses were declared, Henderson hopes the win over The Big Breakaway will have put Chantry House in the mood for a fiercely competitve King George on Sunday.

“He’s been very good since his run at Sandown. It was a two-horse race though, which proved nothing to anybody who was looking for a fault or anything,” assessed the trainer.

“He went round in a very respectable time considering he was doing it on his own, so you couldn’t be happier with him, while he had a spin on a racecourse which really woke him up last week. He didn’t beat anything at Sandown but I’m not complaining about that, we’ve often used the Ladbrokes Trophy for our second season chasers but we rather felt that it wasn’t the place for him.

“If you’re thinking you have a King George horse you’d be hoping to progress to a Gold Cup. He’s a very laid back horse, which I think is in his favour, and I’m not worried that he isn’t quick enough.”

Henderson is respectful of a field that includes defending champion Frodon, dual winner Clan des Obeaux and reigning Cheltenham Gold Cup hero Minella Indo.

He explained: “I still think that the Gold Cup is undoubtedly the best guide.

“You’d always say the best guide to the Derby is the Guineas and if you’re coming into this I think last year’s Gold Cup winner is the horse we’ve all got to watch.

“Frodon as we all know is a tough old devil – he’s very hard to beat and you could have a lot of solutions so it’s a great race on paper.

“Willie (Mullins) is going to come over with a couple and Asterion Forlonge is pretty smart too – I know he tipped up the other day but he ran a pretty good race.”

Henderson could well be double-handed with Mister Fisher, who got within a neck of Frodon when last seen on a racecourse at Sandown Park in April.

Meanwhile, Henderson’s Arkle winner Shishkin is among five entries for the £100,000 Ladbrokes Desert Orchid Chase on Monday but he is by no means a certain runner.

“He’ll school on Thursday and have another spin on Saturday by which time we will have a much clearer idea as to whether we run on Monday or wait a few more weeks for the Clarence House at Ascot,” added the trainer.

Meanwhile, former Flat rider Dale Gibson has been named as interim chief executive of the Professional Jockeys Association.

He takes over from the outgoing Paul Struthers who is stepping down amid criticism over the PJA’s response to the recent high-profile disciplinary case which saw jockey Robbie Dunne banned for 18 months after being found guilty of bullying and harassing Bryony Frost, the winner of last year’s King George aboard Frodon.

“I look forward to continuing representing professional jockeys both on and off the course, building on previous initiatives whilst also progressing important ongoing work within the industry,” said North Yorkshire-based Gibson