Punjabi powers to Hurdle glory

Published on Tuesday 10 March 2009 22:26

NICKY Henderson ensured his name returned to the Smurfit Kappa Champion Hurdle roll of honour – but it was 22-1 shot Punjabi rather than the favourite Binocular who captured the championship prize on day one of the Cheltenham Festival.

Binocular polarised opinion through the dark winter months with his facile wins in small fields, but there were plenty of people willing to support last year's Supreme Novices' runner-up to the extent he started the 6-4 favourite.

Carrying the green and gold silks of birthday boy JP McManus, the market leader had his say in a spirited climax.

But Tony McCoy's mount failed by neck and a head, with Celestial Halo splitting Henderson's duo.

Although Ruby Walsh was suspended three days, at a later date, for using his whip with excessive frequency, Celestial Halo deserves to take away the man of the match accolade – having been the only runner to remain in the vanguard throughout. Travelling to the third-last he looked a sitting duck for Binocular, who matched strides with Barry Geraghty aboard Punjabi before serving it up over the final flight.

The three gave their all in a punishing finish to a Champion Hurdle, in which 23 runners participated, but it was last year's third who trumped them all.

Henderson landed a hat-trick of Champion Hurdle triumphs in the late 1980s with See You Then, but had to wait 22 years to bridge a winning gap.

"They were sat there together but Celestial Halo wouldn't go away and I would have been happier if it had just been the two," he said. "The two horses have ran fantastic races.

"It takes you back. Those great days of See You Then were very special and it's nice to be back with horses that can do this sort of thing.

"I looked at the race on Saturday and thought Punjabi was a ridiculous price and an obvious each-way horse."

Both of Henderson's runners endured a fractious build-up to the race, with Punjabi returning from a fall at Kempton with a wound on a hind leg and Binocular held up by the February snowfall.

"Punjabi had a cut on his hind leg and had to stand in his box for three weeks," said Henderson. "We then took him to Wincanton on unsuitable ground. We explained to everyone what we were trying to do and he ran as expected in third.

"He needs an awful lot of work but that run put him right and the last week he has been very good and very sharp.

"It was an unlucky fall at Kempton and probably the most expensive fall in the history of racing as it cost him 1 million as part of the WBX bonus for winning the 'Fighting Fifth', Christmas Hurdle and this race. I am not saying he would have won, but it looked pretty probable."

Geraghty added: "All of these big races are hard to win and a Champion Hurdle and Gold Cup are what you dream of as a child. It is nice to do it in my first year working for Nicky too."

Henderson admitted the Arctic blast in February may have taken its toll on Binocular. He said: "AP (McCoy] said that he might just have had a bit of a blow and it hasn't been the easiest preparation. He looks great and has ran a good race but he is young and I wouldn't be surprised if he doesn't have his day ahead of him. We always planned not to have a hard year this year so we'd have a horse next year."

McCoy added: "He ran a great race and if the ground had been a bit better, it would have helped him. He did stay on after the last."