Altior 'miles straighter' for Tingle Creek than when beaten by Cyrname

Nicky Henderson believes Altior is much further forward in his preparation ahead of his seasonal reappearance in Saturday's Betfair Tingle Creek Chase at Sandown than when suffering his only career defeat over hurdles or fences last season.

Henderson described pitching the dual Champion Chase hero in against Cyrname at Ascot over two miles five furlongs in November 2019 as asking "a silly question" of Altior.

But he believes he has the ten-year-old in rare form for Saturday's assignment, one that will see him face Politologue, the horse who claimed the two-mile crown at Cheltenham last March when Altior was forced to miss the meeting with a minor splint problem.

"He's definitely a long, long way ahead of where he was going into Ascot last year because we've had a racecourse gallop at Newbury," Henderson told a Great British Racing media conference on Tuesday. "He's miles straighter than at Ascot, there's no doubt about that."

Nicky Henderson believes that Altior has benefited from a recent racecourse gallop at Newbury with reigning Champion Hurdler EpatanteCredit: Edward Whitaker

The going at Sandown is currently good to soft, good in places, meaning conditions will be a far cry from the deep ground Altior encountered when going down to Cyrname by two and a quarter lengths.

Betfair Tingle Creek Chase, card and odds

Henderson said: "He has won in soft ground and he's beaten Politologue in very soft at Newbury on a day when I was changing my mind every five minutes on whether to run or not, in the Game Spirit two years ago. He can cope with soft ground but two miles five against Cyrname, no! He wasn’t ready for that."

Henderson said the experience had not deterred him from trying two and a half miles on a flat track like Aintree in the future, although for now he is completely focused on Sandown and, beyond that, a third Champion Chase for Altior.

"He is the best two-miler there's been around for the last few years, he took over from Sprinter [Sacre]," said Henderson. "I'd like to think he can get that back.

"He is ten and will be 11 come the festival but he doesn't show any signs of old age. You still wouldn't see a horse that could go with him over five fences here and it would be frightening if they could."

Tingle Creek
Betfair: 4-5 Altior, 7-2 Politologue, 5 Greaneteen, 7 Rouge Vif, 14 First Flow, 16 Brewin'upastorm, 25 Castlegrace Paddy, 33 Esprit Du Large

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Get ready for a fantastic week of action with spectators and Altior returning

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