IT'S ALL ABOUT CHELTENHAM

Ben Morgan thinks the flak thrown at Nicky Henderson over Altior was misplaced

- Ben Morgan

The racing world was shaken to its foundations on the first weekend of December over Altior’s late withdrawal from the Tingle Creek. Nicky Henderson took a barrage of abuse from racing fans, Twitter trolls and even some of his own colleagues, as he took his stable star out of the Grade 1 event on the count of the heavy ground.

Henderson explained that he did not want to bottom out Altior on his first run back just 12 months after that famous clash with Cyrname which left its mark on both competitors. The racing Press and aggrieved fans argued that Altior had won on soft ground before so the slow conditions should pose no problem to him and in actual fact Henderson didn’t want to run him as he wanted him in tip-top condition for Cheltenham, which was three months away.

This started the argument – is the Cheltenham Festival becoming the be-all and end-all of National Hunt racing and so having a detrimental impact on the sport? This is a topic I feel passionately about so I was quite het up when the argument began to kick off.

I wasn’t angry at the fact Altior sidestepped the Tingle Creek in preference for the Champion Chase, I was more aggrieved at the disrespect and hypocrisy shown by some of the racing media. This sport and its leaders have a terrible habit of shooting themselves in the foot and I fear they have done so again when attempting to hang Henderson, the six-time champion trainer, out to dry.

Does NH racing have a problem with the fact Cheltenham outshines the rest of the season? Yes. Do we solve this problem by highlighting Henderson withdrawing Altior? No.