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Tuesday, March 16th - Cheltenham. Reaction to Nicky Henderson’s fifth Champion Hurdle – with JP McManus’s Binocular on the opening day of the 2010 Cheltenham Festival - showed just what difficulties racing has in getting its message across, writes Rolf Johnson.
Henderson was forced into repeating himself that he had been “honest in what I told the public. I was trying to keep everyone informed”.
The noises coming out of Seven Barrows stables about the former favourite’s chances of even getting to Cheltenham had long been negative – until suddenly last week it emerged he was a possible.
The Henderson crib sheet of his prospective Festival runners for a Press gathering last month had in brackets the word “unlikely” next to Binocular’s name.
He went out to 999-1 on Betfair.
Somebody caught a cold because the price was matched and Binocular turned up for the Champion in rude good health – even if his 9-1 starting price was longer than he had been in the days leading up to the race.
“Apologies, this wasn’t a ploy” - Henderson’s words to the post race press conference - lit a touch paper.
The trainer was at pains to explain to the aggressive media that behind the scenes there was a huge team effort to find out what was wrong with Binocular.
He was flown for extensive tests to his owner’s place, Martinstown, in Ireland.
The only one that proved conclusive, that prevented him being pulled out of the Champion – Weatherbys, racing’s secretariat went so far as to ask the trainer if he wanted to take Binocular out - was AP McCoy’s thoroughgoing workout of the six-year-old on his return to home gallops last week.
“We got here by the skin of our teeth,” said Henderson. “He was never lame but he just wasn’t the real Binocular which is why we kept the public informed.”
This horse has long been the hope of the side at Seven Barrows, despite losing out to stablemate Punjabi last year, when he’d been was short-priced Champion Hurdle favourite.
“The crunch was the schooling last week,” said Henderson, which is where McCoy came in.
The multiple champion wasn’t about to play bad cop to the trainer’s good one but his exasperation at the line of questioning suggesting a lack of frankness from Binocular’s connections, brought an early exit from the inquisition.
The jockey, often criticized for his separateness, connected with the Cheltenham faithful with his overwhelming delight at bringing his boss’s champion back to the winners’ enclosure.
Memories of McManus’s former Champion Hurdler Istabraq were reignited.
“I’ve had no feel from him all year,” said McCoy. “So last Wednesday morning I went as fast as I’ve ever gone schooling to see if he would jump like a Champion Hurdler. And he did.
“He’s always felt like a proper Champion and I can’t see why he won’t win plenty more.”
That’s providing there isn’t a reoccurrence of the mystery malaise that had cost him three defeats in a row before an unconvincing 1-7 victory at Sandown in February.
McCoy said: “I’d written him off at Sandown. But last Wednesday I saw no reason not to run him in the Champion.”
Neither jockey nor trainer could put matters more eloquently and that wouldn’t satisfy a media ravenous for something to get their teeth into.
But be sure they will bite off more than they can chew taking on Messrs Henderson and McCoy.
Binocular is by Enrique a son of Barathea, ex-Niarchos owned, Henry Cecil-trained.
Enrique, a Group Three winner, stands at the Haras de Hoguenet, Calvados alongside the Green Desert stallion Desert Style, sire of Paco Boy and Mandesha.
Binocular won both his races at two but fell just short of Listed class for Elie Lellouche who both trained and bred him.
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Frogwatch, by Rolf Johnson 
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