Ballymore hope to miss festival as Henderson puts Cheltenham squad through paces

Glynn, who produced a sparkling debut at Doncaster in January and is as short at 14-1 for the Ballymore Novices' Hurdle, will not be part of Nicky Henderson's powerful team for the Cheltenham Festival.

Henderson revealed the news at Kempton on Tuesday morning when he worked a host of his festival prospects.

Among those was Glynn, a six-year-old son of Winged Love who runs in the mauve colours of the Owners Group 039.

Watch Glynn stroll home at Doncaster

Glynn galloped alongside Countister and Brave Eagle under Nico de Boinville, but Henderson said: "He looked very good at Doncaster, but hasn't come back to that since then. He's had only one run and is only a baby.

"I know everyone wants to go to Cheltenham, but that would not be a sensible idea. I'd like to find him a nice little race and finish on a good note and put him away for next year when he will be a good horse. I'd have thought that's the sensible thing to do."

Leading Unibet Champion Hurdle contender Pentland Hills, who is 5-1 for the prestigious championship, also exercised.

He was joined by Adjali and Verdana Blue, who can be backed at
33-1 for the Champion Hurdle.

Fusil Raffles – another hope for the Champion – Birchdale and Mister Coffey were in another group, as were Theinval, Burrows Edge, Dame De Compagnie and Rathhill.

Sir Anthony McCoy, Barney Clifford, Nicky Henderson and Barry Geraghty watch the first Seven Barrows string workCredit: Mark Cranham (racingpost.com/photos)

Jockeys Barry Geraghty, Jerry McGrath and Daryl Jacob were tasked with the steering along with De Boinville.

Henderson, whose Epatante is the 3-1 favourite for the Champion Hurdle, added: "I was happy with Pentland and Verdana. They've all done what they had to do and Fusil was all right too.

"That was good and I was very pleased with Pentland. Epatante is surely the one [in the Champion Hurdle], but I could make a case for him and he did that well.

Daryl Jacob riding Adjali (left) and Nico de Boinville riding Pentland Hills (right) at KemptonCredit: Alan Crowhurst (Getty Images)

"Daryl was happy with Fusil. He's a horse who comes alive on a racecourse – he certainly did last year – but we've got to get him back to where he was. Verdana is going to have to go on ground that doesn't suit her, but she's in great form."

Henderson has used Kempton as a pre-Cheltenham destination for over a decade, with clerk of the course Barney Clifford suggesting the ritual dated back to 2008 or 2009.

"One or two had a blow and that's fine – you take it that will put them right," the five-time champion trainer added. "A lot of these haven't run for a while and that's why they are here. It's good for them mentally to have a day out; it puts an edge on them, but you can't judge things on results here.

"Nico was just saying he remembers riding The Polomoche here a few years ago. It was a fortnight before Cheltenham and Binocular never got to him, but he still won the Champion Hurdle."

Of his festival squad – those at home in Lambourn and present on course – Henderson, said: "It's well up to standard, it's quite long and quite strong."

Read this next:

Our betting editor Keith Melrose thinks he has seen a Cheltenham Festival winner

Nicky Henderson: Shishkin has a great chance to get me off to a festival flier

'Crazy' decision to run Altior at Ascot still haunts Henderson

Subscribe to the Racing Post YouTube channel so you don’t miss out on What A Shout and more must-have content from the Racing Post. To view today’s show click here