Henderson wary of small field for Simonsig

Nicky Henderson would have preferred a bigger field for the Betfred Hurdle at Aintree on Saturday to help the long-absent Simonsig settle on his eagerly anticipated return.

The winner of eight of his nine starts under Rules, the flying grey has not been seen in competitive action since making it three from three over fences in the Arkle Trophy at the 2013 Cheltenham Festival.

Henderson is delighted with his nine-year-old's condition ahead of his comeback, but fears he could be too keen for his own good after such a lengthy spell on the sidelines.

Henderson said: "I'm very happy with him and the idea behind running him over hurdles it just to try and get some of that freshness out of him.

"This looked a good place to start, but I would have preferred a bigger field as the idea was to get him to settle and there's not going to be much cover with just the five runners.

"He's in good order. Everything has gone very well. Jerry McGrath has ridden him every single day since he's come back in and has done brilliantly on him.

"He's a seriously good horse. He wasn't actually right when he won the Arkle, but he still won and that's the last time he ran - over two and a half years ago.

"This will tell us where we're going with him."

One of Simonsig's four opponents is stable companion and 2013 Cheltenham Gold Cup hero Bobs Worth.

The 10-year-old looked a shadow of his former self in three starts last season and Henderson sees Aintree as an ideal starting point ahead of a possible tilt at the Hennessy Gold Cup at Newbury in three weeks' time.

"Bobs (Worth) is in good form and I was always quite keen to give him a run over hurdles first time out," said the trainer.

"The trip will be on the short side for him, but it's a good place for him to start on nice ground and hopefully it will lead him nicely into the Hennessy."

Royal Boy, formerly trained by Henderson but now with Rebecca Curtis, makes his first appearance since winning the rearranged Tolworth Hurdle at Kempton in January 2014.

Curtis said: "We bought him at the Doncaster Sales in May and he works like a nice horse, but I think he'll need the run, having been off the track so long.

"It will be interesting to see if he retains all of his old ability. He does work well, but you don't really know until you get them back on the racecourse.

"He's taking on some good horses, but I just thought with a small field it was a good place to start.

"It was either come here or go for a racecourse gallop somewhere and I always think it's better for them to have a race."

The John Ferguson-trained Purple Bay is officially the highest-rated hurdler in the field, but he, too, has to prove his fitness having been off since chasing home Faugheen in the Christmas Hurdle at Kempton.

Ferguson, who also runs Commissioned, said: "Purple Bay had a problem with a foot after the Christmas Hurdle which meant he missed all the Festivals.

"He's very well but I would expect him to improve for the run.

"The trip should suit him well and I've been very happy with him.

"Commissioned had been running well in the summer and I'm looking forward to running him.

"Commissioned is fit enough, it's a question of if he's good enough at this level, whereas we know Purple Bay is good enough, but he might just need the run.

"It's a nice race for them both to try and get their confidence back."