Festival fright: how a 'mystery' text scared the life out of Nicky Henderson

Nicky Henderson knows the next few weeks might be a bumpy road to the Cheltenham Festival with the odd curveball here and there, but he was caught out on Saturday by an ambiguous text from his right-hand man Charlie Morlock that frightened the hell out of him.

The Lambourn trainer had left for Ascot safe in the knowledge RSA Insurance Novices' Chase favourite Champ was in excellent condition. However, Morlock's message had him panicking.

Hosting the media at his Seven Barrows base on Monday morning, Henderson explained: "I went to Ascot on Saturday and someone asked how I was coping with the pressure of Cheltenham. I said I was fine until ten minutes ago when Charlie sent me a text.

"We'd had a few runners at Fakenham on Friday, but I hadn't seen them before I left for Ascot and Charlie's text read, 'Fix Sun okay. Champ mystery lame – nothing obvious'.

"I'm thinking, 'Champ, lame? He was as sound as a pound this morning, what's wrong with him? What's this mystery lameness?'

Champ: favourite for next month's RSA Insurance Novices' ChaseCredit: Edward Whitaker

"I was doing my head in thinking and, of course, Charlie meant Champagne Mystery, who had run at Fakenham and was slightly lame, which you can expect the day after a race."

Morlock, a key cog in the operation, added: "I had a laugh about it because when I read it again I thought, 'Yeah, I suppose you can read it like that!'"

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