Binocular campaign fully mapped out
Reigning champion hurdler Binocular is set to have two outings before he attempts to defend his crown at the Cheltenham Festival on March 15, writes Elliot Slater.
Like so many other trainers, Binocular’s handler Nicky Henderson has had to keep an open mind and be flexible about getting runs into his horses as a result of the wintry weather that caused havoc to the racing programme throughout December. The rescheduled Christmas Hurdle is still very much on the agenda for Binocular, who all being well will head to Kempton on January 15th in a bid to do better than last year when he managed only third in the race behind Go Native and Starluck, with the latter set to re-oppose once again.
The original plan of heading to Sandown for the listed hurdle that Binocular won in 2010 remains, even though there will be only three weeks break between Kempton and Sandown. If all goes well at Sandown then there will be a very comfortable six-week break until the Champion Hurdle itself, a race for which Binocular is vying for favouritism in the ante-post list with Hurricane Fly and Menorah at around 4/1 and it should be one of the most exciting Cheltenham races at the festival.
The JP McManus-owned seven-year-old has never been the easiest of horses to predict and certainly had a patchy time of things before bouncing back to his brilliant best in the last year’s Champion Hurdle when beating the smart Khyber Kim. This season he has been seen only once, when sent off favourite to land the relocated Fighting Fifth Hurdle at Newbury, only to find the classy Peddlers Cross and Starluck just a little too sharp for him on his seasonal return.
Henderson, McManus and jockey Tony McCoy will be hoping the real Binocular shows up not only at Cheltenham, but also in his two prep races as well.
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