Henderson content with Cheltenham ground

Nicky Henderson expressed himself satisfied with the condition of the ground when he walked a full circuit of Cheltenham this morning.

But he added that things could get quite quick if the weather remains dry over the next couple of days.

Having tested most areas of the track with his stick in company with owner Robert Waley-Cohen, Henderson said: 'The old course is lovely ground with a bit of life in it.

'My only worry is that if it didn´t rain by Thursday or Friday the new course could get quite quick.'

While many of Henderson´s runners would appreciate being able to get their feet in, the trainer´s top novice Trabolgan would not be inconvenienced by drying conditions for his mission in Wednesday´s Royal & SunAlliance Chase. Henderson explained: 'If it stays like this Trabolgan will love the ground.

The reason he was beaten at Haydock was purely down to the testing conditions there.

'Mick Fitzgerald said the horse felt like a Rolls Royce until he cantered him down to look at the first fence when the feeling had changed to a car with two punctures.'

Trabolgan is Henderson´s main hope of picking up one of the feature races at the meeting but he has a plethora of horses for the handicaps including Irish Hussar, who will return from a spell on the sidelines in the William Hill Handicap Chase on Tuesday.

The trainer conceded that Irish Hussar will greatly benefit from the outing and he observed: 'He had a chip in a hock at the beginning of the season and I expect that like Marlborough, who will also be making his reappearance in the race, he will be quite rusty.

'We had to run them in the handicap as they can´t win the Gold Cup first time out and my feeling is that by getting a run into them they will be ready for Aintree.'

Henderson is to saddle a previous Festival winner when The Bushkeeper also returns from a lengthy absence in the Kim Muir Chase on Wednesday, a race the gelding won two years ago.

Henderson said: 'It´s his first run for two years and his first since he won the Kim Muir as he´s very fragile. 'We nearly got him there last season only for things to go wrong within sight

of the race but at least we know he does go well fresh.'

Henderson has a high opinion of Thames, who is to run in the Brit Insurance Novices´ Hurdle on Friday.

He said: 'I like him and I think he has a good chance.'

(C) PA Sport