Henderson hoping relaxed Tent is not pegged back
5.30 Punchestown
Betdaq Punchestown Champion Hurdle | Grade 1 | 4yo+ | 2m | RTE/ATR
Whatever happens in Friday's festival feature, Nicky Henderson knows he has the sport's top two-mile hurdler in Stan James Champion Hurdle winner Buveur D'Air.
He would, however, also love to win the Betdaq Punchestown Champion Hurdle with a member of the Seven Barrows support act.
At Cheltenham in March the remarkable My Tent Or Yours finished second in the Champion Hurdle for the third time, performing far better than double major handicap winner Brain Power, pulled up by David Mullins after racing keenly.
Both line up for this €250,000 showpiece, in which Aidan Coleman's mount My Tent Or Yours, most recently runner-up at Aintree, took third last year.
Henderson – who trained Britain's last winner of the contest, Punjabi, nine years ago – said: "This is Tent's third festival of the season, but he's an experienced warrior and the ground is right for him.
"The great thing this season is he's relaxing much better. There's no reason why he shouldn't run very well.
"I don't know what happened to Brain Power at Cheltenham. He was the first horse beat, so he can't have given his running. We missed Aintree because we were keen to come here, where his owner, Michael Buckley, likes having runners."
My Tent Or Yours
Pros Supremely consistent athlete who has been in sparkling form this spring
Cons Although wonderfully consistent, he has not won a race for more than three years
Brain Power
Pros Big improver this season and may appreciate return to a right-handed track
Cons Needs to bounce back from a tame effort at Cheltenham, where he pulled far too hard
Published on 27 April 2017inPunchestown festival
Last updated 18:16, 27 April 2017
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