Henderson issues warning over Greatwood gamble Jenkins after big plunge

The four-legged puzzle that is Jenkins, described in Nicky Henderson’s latest bulletin as “awful” through the whole of last season, has halved in price for the Unibet Greatwood Hurdle despite the champion trainer insisting he believes the ante-post plunge is badly handicapped.

Having been available at 12-1 prior to the Greatwood’s Monday forfeit stage, Jenkins is now no bigger than 6-1 and as short as 9-2, despite leading Champion Hurdle hope Defi Du Seuil remaining on course to make his reappearance in a £100,000 prize that also looks likely to welcome The New One.

The sponsors are unable to separate Triumph Hurdle hero Defi Du Seuil and Jenkins at 5-1.

However, while Defi Du Seuil performed magnificently as a novice, Jenkins failed to fulfill the high expectations held for him after an exciting bumper campaign, suffering an odds-on defeat at Kempton either side of wins at Newbury and Ffos Las, where he made hard work of justifying 1-4 favouritism.

Poor jumping was a hallmark of Jenkins’ first season over hurdles but recent schooling sessions at Seven Barrows have been more positive, which perhaps encouraged Henderson to say in his Racing Post Stable Tour: “If we can get it together he still has the potential to be top class.”

Nicky Henderson: 'I think he's too high in the ratings but we’ll have a crack at it'Credit: Edward Whitaker

Even so, speaking at Kempton on Monday, Henderson was hardly seeking to persuade punters to steam into Jenkins, who will carry only 10st if The New One takes his chance.

“I think he's too high in the ratings but we’ll have a crack at it,” he said.

“He was awful the day he won at Newbury and he was awful the whole way through the season.

“He couldn’t jump a hurdle at home and he didn’t jump one at Newbury. He got away with it but even his work was rubbish. He was terrible when he ran at Kempton and then ran in the worst race you’ve seen in your life at Ffos Las.

“Somehow he got to a rating of 137. Where in the world he got that, I don’t know. He's handicapped on reputation, not on what he achieved. You couldn’t get him to 127 if you tried.”

In a more upbeat vein, Henderson – who said “a few issues” had been detected with the five-year-old since last season – added: “I'll say that, for some extraordinary reason, he seems to be a completely different horse. He wants to jump and he wants to work, so we’re going to start here.”

Also due to start in the Greatwood is Defi Du Seuil, successful in all seven of his hurdling outings and the leading light in what could be a four-pronged challenge by JP McManus on Sunday, who may also be represented by Ivanovich Gorbatov, Tigris River and Project Bluebook.

McManus’s racing manager Frank Berry said: “I expect all four to run, including Defi Du Seuil. He's the one to be most excited about as he was so fantastic last season. Philip [Hobbs] is very happy with him and we need to get him out.”

The New One would have to give 6lb to Defi Du Seuil and 26lb to Jenkins, but Nigel Twiston-Davies has yet to decide if Zac Baker, who claimed 5lb off the popular Cheltenham stalwart’s back when they teamed up to win the Welsh Champion Hurdle last month, will again take the mount.

Twiston-Davies said of the 20-1 shot: “I think we’ll be running on Sunday, when the money is very good. I haven’t discussed with the owners yet who will ride.”

Unibet Greatwood Hurdle card

Cloudy Dream out of BetVictor Gold Cup

The Malcolm Jefferson-trained Cloudy Dream, last seen finishing second to Smad Place in the Old Roan Chase, was the most high-profile absentee from the 22 confirmations for Saturday's BetVictor Gold Cup.

Connections had warned that top weight and soft ground were not a combination they were likely to ask Cloudy Dream to face, but had stated that he would be confirmed at the five-day stage.

Top Gamble was left as the topweight, some 5lb ahead of ante-post favourite Kylemore Lough, who would be making his first start for Harry Fry. Tully East, Romain De Senam and Starchitect were other fancied types among the confirmations.

BetVictor Gold Cup card

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