Horse Racing / Timeform / 24 November 2008 / Leave a comment

Timeform reflect on a remarkable day for Nicky Henderson, a bloodless success in the Betfair Hurdle and one of the biggest shocks in many-a-year...

There are few trainers in the land in the sort of form that Nicky Henderson is at the moment and Saturday was truly a day to remember for him and all the team at Seven Barrows as they enjoyed a remarkable five winners and two seconds from ten runners.

It was a clean sweep of the trio of features races at Ascot, kicking off with Jack The Giant's victory in the valuable handicap chase over two miles and a furlong. The six-year-old showed no signs of rustiness on his return from a ten-month absence and having been backed as though defeat was out of the question proved just that with an emphatic eleven-length success. A return to a left-handed track will benefit Jack The Giant, such is his tendency to jump that way, and the Festival Trophy is reportedly his long-term target.

My Petra landed the spoils in the latest running of the Amlin 1965 Chase, jumping slowly on a number of occasions but travelling well throughout and pulling clear on the run-in from Oceanos Des Obeaux. She could be capable of even better.

The strength in depth of Henderson's hurdlers at present is remarkable and he's responsible for three of the first eight currently in the ante-post betting for the Champion Hurdle. Two of the three recorded their latest wins on Saturday, Chomba Womba continued her remarkable run since joining Henderson's yard with her fifth success in six starts in the Grade 2 Ascot Hurdle, gamely holding on by a length from Crack Away Jack. Her jumping was superior to that of the runner-up, whose own Champion Hurdle claims suffered something of a dent, beaten on terms 6 lb better than weight-for-sex with the winner, and his jumping will need to be much sharper in future.

Away from Ascot and Binocular's position at the top of the Champion Hurdle market strengthened further with a bloodless success on his reappearance in the first running of the Betfair Hurdle at Haydock. The leading juvenile hurdler of last season barely broke sweat in what was a very uncompetitive affair but he still impressed with the way he travelled and jumped throughout. Tougher tasks await between now and March, with presumably either the Boylesports International at Cheltenham or the Christmas Hurdle next.

The fourth running of the Betfair Chase at Haydock produced one of the biggest shocks in many-a-year as Kauto Star failed to complete for only the second time since arriving in Britain. While he might well have gained his third successive win in this race but for slithering on landing after the last there's little doubt he wasn't anywhere near his best, a bad mistake at the third last leaving him in trouble and in all putting up a very laboured effort in his finish. Granted, he'll still be very hard to beat in the King George if back to his best but he doesn't approach Kempton this year in the sparkling form as he has done when successful there for the last two years.

Although it was a muddling race, you can't take anything away from the winner Snoopy Loopy, whose Timeform rating has gone up over 40 lb since February - a remarkable feat for a ten-year-old. Once more he showed an excellent attitude to run on after the last to beat Tamarinbleu by half a length, giving trainer Peter Bowen the biggest success of his career. He's now a clear leader in the Order of Merit standings and connections will now consider a tilt at Saturday's Hennessy where he'll face a stellar task under top-weight with a 6 lb penalty.

Tote Scoop6 fever dominated much of the proceedings on Saturday afternoon, and while it took less than a minute and a half for plenty of dreams to be shattered courtesy of course specialist Atlantic Story's success in the first leg at Lingfield, eight tickets were left prevalent just under two hours later following Duff's win in the sixth and final leg, the Listed Golden Rose Stakes, also at Lingfield.

The lucky ticket holders will now chase a bonus of around £1.5million on Saturday, by attempting to pick out the winner of another race, likely to be the Hennessy at Newbury.

It was Becher Chase day at Aintree on Sunday, and a return visit in April for the National looks on the cards for Black Apalachi following the useful chaser's success in the feature race. He got no further than the second in April, but fared much better this time round, opening up a clear lead from the ninth and soon away again after the runner-up Mr Pointment had got to within two lengths of him at the second last.

The winning distance between the two was huge in the end, which will no doubt make life in handicaps much tougher for him from now on, more so in terms of the 2009 Grand National, with the 'Aintree factor' now carrying further weight.

It was a slog throughout the afternoon at Aintree, the eight finishers in the Becher coming home at distances better described as metres than lengths, while only six got round in the earlier Grand Sefton, Endless Power like Black Apalachi following him, making most under a canny ride, giving Jim Goldie his second successive win in the race following Lampion du Bost last year.