Nick Henderson’s smart two-mile hurdler Soldatino will be one of three horses to represent his popular handler in the Betfair Hurdle on January 11 if the weather relents its grip on National Hunt racing and allows one of the main Cheltenham Festival trial cards to give some top performers a chance to go through their paces one month ahead of the feature winter meeting, writes Elliot Slater.
Soldatino, the 2010 JCB Triumph Hurdle winner, was lightly raced last term seeing the racecourse only three times and has yet to be seen in public during this campaign. His best effort last year was when running a close fifth to Recession Proof in the Totesport Trophy Hurdle, the race that has now been renamed the Betfair Hurdle and is the centrepiece of a great card at Newbury. He didn’t go on from that rock solid effort though and has to be rated disappointing on his third and final outing of the term when only 11th of the 26-runner field in the Vincent O’Brien County Handicap Hurdle won by Ireland’s Final Approach. People following the Betfair betting on Cheltenham should remember this.
Henderson has always held the Simon Munir-owned gelding in high regard and has been typically patient with the gelded son of Graveron who is ideally suited by a decent surface, one of the main reasons why he hasn’t yet entered the fray so far this season. A 12/1 chance for the richly endowed Newbury race, a good effort from the French bred would likely see him bid again for the County Hurdle at Cheltenham on March 16, (one of the most competitive handicap events of the whole four-day fixture), at a track where he enjoyed his finest hour in pegging back the gallant Barizan in one of the best finishes to the Triumph Hurdle in recent years. Those looking ahead to 2012 Cheltenham races should bear this in mind.
Henderson’s other two Betfair Hurdle runners are the strongly fancied Darlan (9/1) and Ericht (33/1).