Henderson confirms no prep for Long It is "highly unlikely" King George VI Chase hero Long Run will run again before the Cheltenham Festival. The youngster dethroned multiple champion Kauto Star with a brilliant display at Kempton on Saturday. Nicky Henderson is now aiming to have him back at the peak of his powers for the Cheltenham Gold Cup in March. "He's come out of it really well. He's been out in the paddock for a bit and it went really good," said Henderson. "I can see why the earplugs would help on him on a big day with a big crowd like at Kempton, and they (earplugs) will be there come March, all being well. "It's highly, highly unlikely that he'll run before Cheltenham. "In fact, it's almost certainly improbable." With all the plaudits having been afforded to Long Run, the excellent performance of stablemate Riverside Theatre to fill the runner-up spot in the King George has gone slightly under the radar. He does not have an entry in the Gold Cup, and Henderson believes his main target could be Aintree's Melling Chase in April. "When you see what he did on Saturday over three miles, you can see why it went wrong in the Arkle last season," Henderson told Racing UK. "Two miles was just purely and utterly too short or him, but now you see the stamina he has got. "I think if he goes to Cheltenham he'll go for the Ryanair, but much more likely he'll wait for the Melling Chase at Aintree." The other obvious highlight at Kempton for the Henderson team was the brilliant performance of Binocular in the Christmas Hurdle. He is now back as clear favourite to defend his Champion Hurdle crown in March, with the Contenders Hurdle at Sandown likely to be his final warm-up race. "You could see what was going to happen pace-wise - they were all bound to sit on our tails," Henderson continued. "Luckily Donald McCain's horse (Overturn) did go a really good gallop. "We've never let this horse race like that (prominently) before but AP (McCoy) said that was what he was going to do and I thought, 'Great'. "If he's going a really good gallop you get to see this really slick jumping and he's just a natural hurdler. "He was good and hopefully he'll go to the Contenders Hurdle."
