NICKY Henderson has seen it all when it comes to the Cheltenham Festival.
And it means he heads into Altior’s Champion Chase defence as cool as a cucumber.
His stable star is looking to join Badsworth Boy in the Festival history books by winning three of the two-mile showpieces on the spin.
But despite a sticky start to his season – when he was stuffed by Cyrname at Ascot – Henderson is now happy with his horse after a recent win at Newbury.
He said: “We have been through all these years with Sprinter Sacre, and the pressure was much the same -because everyone expected him to win.
“This year’s race is very competitive – and so it should be. It is going to be a big battle.”
Altior is joint favourite for the Champion Chase with the vastly improved Defi Du Seuil – trained by Philip Hobbs – and also has Chacun Pour Soi to deal with.
But it was only after his Newbury recovery mission that he shot back up the market and Henderson still regrets running him against Cyrname back in November.
He added: “The disaster was the first run of the year – it was in the wrong place at the wrong time on the wrong ground over the wrong trip. I couldn’t have made a worse job if I had tried.
“I’ve always said if it wasn’t for there being so much hype, and there hadn’t been the big build-up we wouldn’t have gone. I should have been the spoilsport and taken him out on the morning of the race, but you couldn’t.”
But a back on song Altior will still have a point to prove at Cheltenham, and Henderson is keen to get him working again after an easy time following his Game Spirit run.
He explained: “All is going well at the moment, and he is in good form. He’s just had a couple of quiet days since Newbury.
“We will start to tick along and give him a couple of schools soon. We seldom school him, but I think he enjoys it to be honest.
“If you take Newbury as his first run, which you have to, it was perfect. If we were coming into the Tingle Creek next, you would have to say he is spot on.”
After a steady enough season by Altior’s standards the Seven Barrows handler is tempted by Aintree – if all goes smoothly at the Festival – and a shot at the Melling Chase.
