Altior a doubt for Champion Chase after Henderson reveals star chaser is lame

Altior faces a "battle against time" to make Wednesday's Betway Queen Mother Champion Chase after trainer Nicky Henderson revealed the four-time Cheltenham Festival winner is lame.

The Champion Chase has long been billed as the race of this year's festival, with Patricia Pugh's ten-year-old, who has won the last two runnings, set to take on Defi Du Seuil and Chacun Pour Soi.

Henderson said: "There's a problem with Altior. He's lame this morning and faces a battle against time to run in the Champion Chase.

"What's happened is an old splint that has never worried him before has consequently reared up. He's been on the water treadmill and cold water is great for that type of thing.

"We can't give him any medication because it's too close to the race, but there's a chance he could make it. We'll monitor the situation and see what he's like in the morning.

"We have 48-hour declarations, so we can see what he's like tomorrow and Tuesday, but we'll be working day and night to get rid of it by Wednesday.

Wednesday's Cheltenham entries

"These things can improve massively so we'll just have to see. There's a chance, but I'm not going to speculate on how big. It's a very simple thing and will go away, it's just a case of when.

"Like I said, he's been on the water treadmill so has exercised and it's just sod's law that this has never troubled him but chose today to come to light."

With Altior's participation in the balance, Shloer, Tingle Creek and Clarence House winner Defi Du Seuil has been made 5-4 favourite for the race with Paddy Power, followed by Chacun Pour Soi at 6-4 and Alitor at 3-1. The defending champion had been the 15-8 favourite with the same bookmaker at the start of Sunday morning.

What is a splint?

A splint is a hard, bony swelling on the leg between the splint bone and cannon bone or on the splint bone itself. Splint problems are more common in younger horses but can arise due to a number of factors, such as too much work on hard surfaces. The lump can vary in size but does not usually pose a problem long-term. In Altior's case, involving an an old splint that has flared up, connections are hosing the leg and walking him on a treadmill, which is the most common solution to the problem.

This is not the first late scare connections of Altior have had before a Cheltenham Festival, as two years ago he was reported lame on his near fore leg on the Monday afternoon before his first run in a Champion Chase.

He recovered in time to contest the race two days later and recorded a career-best Racing Post Rating of 183 when defeating Min by seven lengths.

It has not been a straightforward campaign this term either for Altior, who started the season with his first defeat over obstacles to Cyrname in the Christy 1965 Chase at Ascot.

Henderson then scratched his stable star from the Unibet Silviniaco Conti Chase at Kempton in January, despite considering running his two-miler after an abscess on his withers had earlier that week put his participation in doubt.

The Seven Barrows trainer expressed his concern over the wellbeing of Altior and his unlikely participation at Kempton on Tuesday that week via his Unibet-sponsored blog.

Altior was not officially scratched so the BHA took the unusual step of sending a vet to examine Altior two days later and found him to be fit and sound, but Henderson still opted to scratch the horse.

Testing ground ensured Altior missed the Matchbook Clarence House Chase at Ascot the following week, but he bounced back to winning ways in the Betfair Exchange Chase at Newbury last month, a race he used as a stepping stone to his first Champion Chase win.

Read more:

The Cheltenham Festival when Nicky Henderson had the golden touch

Confident Mullins hoping 'classy' Chacun Pour Soi up to Champion Chase challenge

Henderson down to four as final Champion Hurdle field is revealed

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