Cracksman - and then Royal Ascot - could await Cheltenham winner Ahorsewithnoname

Nicky Henderson has one more target in mind for Ahorsewithnoname, who is likely to make a more imminent visit to Dalham Hall stallion Cracksman before her trainer can consider a Royal Ascot challenge.

It looks as if it is job done regarding the eight-year-old’s National Hunt career after she claimed a priceless Listed victory in the Catesby Estates Mares' Novices' Hurdle at Cheltenham on Thursday.

Ahorsewithnoname was bred by Dominic Burke and remains under his joint-ownership. By Cacique, she is out of Burke’s Whitley Stud-bred Galileo mare Sea Of Galilee, who won a Nottingham maiden for Henry Candy and was in turn the daughter of a top-class French jumps mare.

Five times a winner in either Flat or bumper events when in the care of both Brian Ellison and Henderson, it had been quite a wait for her to strike over hurdles in a career which included a second to Love Envoi in last year’s Dawn Run Mares' Novices' Hurdle. She was 10th in this season’s renewal.

"If we’d have gone for a mares’ only novices’ hurdle she’d have won on the bridle, but she’s been running in Listed races as we’ve been aiming to get black type the whole way through," Henderson said.

Ahorsewithnoname at Seven BarrowsCredit: Edward Whitaker

"That could easily be her last run. What happens now is we’re going to bring her into season and she’s going to Cracksman. She’s then got 90 days and I’d like to finish up in the Ascot Stakes. She was going to run in it last year but it was too firm. She went on that today, though the Flat boys would probably tell you that’s soft!"

There is a school of thought that being in foal can help mares run even better, although in his experience,  Henderson is not so sure.

"We tried it once before and all I can tell you is the mare ended up in exactly the same place as where we started. She’d won one race before and we managed to win a race with her while she was in foal to Jack Hobbs, but she performed to exactly the same level as she had before – so the conclusion was that it made no difference!

“She’s been a lovely mare. She was second in the mares’ novices’ at the Festival and we went Flat racing, won two lovely pots and finished fifth in a Cesarewitch. It was all to keep her novice status for this year’s Dawn Run - we thought we were being frighteningly clever!"

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