Henderson pleased with Sacre progress Nicky Henderson is steadily stepping Sprinter Sacre back up in work following the brilliant chaser's heart scare last month. National Hunt racing's brightest star suffered his first defeat over fences when pulled up sharply by Barry Geraghty in the Desert Orchid Chase at Kempton on December 27, after which he was found to be suffering from an irregular heartbeat. After being examined by Celia Marr, a specialist in equine internal medicine and cardiology at Newmarket, Sprinter Sacre's heart "righted itself" and he was monitored closely as he did his first canter since at Seven Barrows on January 3. Henderson reports last season's superb Queen Mother Champion Chase winner to be looking "magnificent". "Sprinter Sacre's great, Nico's (De Boinville, his regular work-rider) happy with him, but he's not doing anything quick at the moment. We're just building him up," said the champion jumps trainer. "There's nothing new except he looks magnificent, is moving well and is feeding well. We'll just leave it at that for the time being. "There's no great big tests or gallops or anything coming up in the foreseeable future but there will be nearer the time."
