As we reach the peak of the jump racing season, it is still all to play on the British trainers’ championship front. 12-time winner Paul Nicholls currently leads the way in the standings, with £2,184,862 in prize money, but after not landing a single winner at the Cheltenham Festival for the second year in a row, Nicky Henderson is hot on his heels — narrowly behind on £2,024,621.
The horse race betting is still favouring Nicholls to see out the defence of his championship, but the upcoming Grand National Festival could be decisive — with Henderson set to send a strong team to Aintree, while Willie Mullins also fancies his title at a crack at the accolade.
So, with it incredibly difficult to predict who will be crowned the Champion Trainer at Sandown’s Jump Finale on April 23rd, let’s take a look at some of Henderson’s best chances of glory at Aintree. Read on to find out more!
Jonbon
Perhaps the most popular horse in the esteemed Seven Burrows yard right now, British jump racing fans have grown to love the Nicky Henderson-trained Jonbon after his impressive performances so far this season.
The six-year-old won a maiden on his first attempt over hurdles at Newbury in November, beating Good Risk At All by a commanding six lengths, and he quickly stepped up to the mark at graded level — winning back-to-back Grade 2s as he beat Colonel Mustard by almost three lengths at Ascot before beating Richmond Lake by a similar distance in the Supreme Trial at Haydock.
Thanks to his new supporters’ club, Jonbon was heavily backed to win the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle at Cheltenham. But it wasn’t to be in the Festival’s curtain-raiser, as Constitution Hill went on to land a commanding 22-length victory over his stablemate. The defeat wasn’t as bad as the horse racing results todaymake it look though, Constitution Hill was one of the standout runners of the week, after all.
Henderson has claimed that he is ‘almost certain’ Jonbon will head to Aintree, and while his entry is yet to be confirmed, the packed concourses will certainly be excited to see the exciting novice hurdler.
Epatante
Another horse whose jockey will don the iconic green and gold colours of renowned owner JP McManus, Epatante has returned to form somewhat this season. It looked like the eight-year-old was going to take over the hurdling division when she won the Champion Hurdle in 2020.
But she has had to take a back seat now Honeysuckle has come along and taken a firm grip on that crown — losing the defence of her Champion Hurdle title at last year’s Festival before being well beaten by Henry de Bromhead’s prized mare in the Irish Champion Hurdle at Punchestown the following month.
After a dead heat with Not So Sleepy on her seasonal reappearance in the Grade 1 Fighting Fifth Hurdle at Newcastle, Epatante won the top-grade Christmas Hurdle at Kempton on Boxing Day before being pegged back again by Honeysuckle at Cheltenham. Luckily for the eight-year-old, the unbeaten hurdler won’t be at Aintree, so she’s in with a great chance of winning the Aintree Hurdle.
Mister Coffey
Having switched to chasing at the start of this year, following just two wins in six attempts over hurdles, Mister Coffey hasn’t really fared much better over fences. Yet to get off the mark in four outings, the seven-year-old was third in his first contest of the season — a limited handicap at Newbury — before going second in three successive races.
Well beaten by L’Homme Presse, who albeit went on to impressively win the Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase, by a huge 21 lengths in his first Grade 1 attempt in the Scilly Isles Novices’ Chase at Sandown in February, Mister Coffey finished two and a half lengths behind Chambard — another Venetia Williams-trained horse — in the Kim Muir Challenge Cup at Cheltenham.
Still, the eight-year-old is heavily favoured to land that inaugural chasing success at Aintree — boasting favourite status in the ante-post market for the Grade 3 Topham Handicap Chase. But he will likely face stiff competition from Mullins’ Blackbow, who won by 36 lengths last time out, as the Irishman hopes to land his first British trainers’ championship title.
