It has been a remarkable season for Nicky Henderson and Paul Nicholls trained novice hurdlers, so much so that it is no exaggeration to say that Cheltenham could easily stage competitive, top class renewals of the Supreme Novices Hurdle and Ballymore Properties Hurdle comprising only of runners from those two powerful stables.
To emphasis the point, Nicky Henderson unleashed another potential star on Friday (15th February) when Punchestowns won in impressive fashion on his hurdling debut at Sandown.
However, anyone who has closely followed Martin Pipe’s runners at the Festival, particularly in handicap chases, will know that it isn’t always a stable’s apparent first string that wins the day.
It is highly likely that Henderson and Nicholls will have more than one runner in each of the big novice hurdles and whichever of those entries Mick Fitzgerald and Ruby Walsh choose are bound to go off significantly shorter than their stablemate or mates, even though there may not be much between them on the formbook.
The two jockeys have some unenviable choices to make and, as a punter, their choices could lead to their being some real value elsewhere.
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