NICKY Henderson reckons the best is yet to come from Gold Cup contender Santini.
The eight-year-old ran out a gutsy winner of the Cotswold Chase at Cheltenham to book his ticket to the Festival in seven weeks’ time.
He has been called plenty of names during his short career, and he was looking to rebuild his reputation after a workmanlike win at Sandown in November.
But the strapping gelding, who was sent off the well-backed 13-8 jolly, jumped well and travelled smoothly through the race under Nico De Boinville.
Having traded blows with Bristol De Mai from four out, the pair slugged it out up the hill with Santini edging clear close home to the delight of punters.
He was unchanged with Ladbrokes at 8-1 for the Gold Cup, but Henderson is confident he heads there with a strong chance.
He said: “That was 200% better than Sandown, he was sloppy that day.
“This horse absolutely thrives on his work, the more you can get into him the better he becomes. There is more to come.
“When you consider the race he ran in the RSA you’d say he likes the track. The last three weeks he’s just been pleasing us.
“We had a dreadful time with him last year, so we’ve just got to pray now we get a smooth run with him before the Festival.
“Bristol De Mai is a great benchmark, we got away from him, he came back at us, it was evens-stevens after the last, it was a good horse race.
“The better the ground the better he will be, that wasn’t his ground today. That’s a good stepping stone and we are in the ball game.”
Later on the card, Paisley Park continued his dominance of the Stayers Hurdle division and trainer Emma Lavelle warned: He is getting better.
The top-class eight-year-old, cheered on by blind owner Andrew Gemmell, was chasing back-to-back Cleeve Hurdles and he quickened up well to collar the long-time leader Summerville Boy after the last.
He idled in the closing stages but was well on top at the line, with the Magic Sign trimming him into 4-5 for the Stayers here in March.
Lavelle grinned: He was as professional today as hes ever been. I think he is getting better, and I think I love him!
He just does enough in front and I enjoyed watching that race more than any other race so far.
Missing Ascot has actually worked out well and I knew we had him in good shape and it was going to take a good one to beat him.
The pressure going in is not just for the yard and for Andrew, but youve got everybody rooting for him and you just want to deliver. He loves it and we are loving having him.
In the Ballymore trial, King Roland’s bubble was burst by the Colin Tizzard-trained Harry’s Senior, while Cepage defied a welter-burden to win the 70,000 handicap chase.
