On an afternoon when Britain’s National Hunt fans had expected to be looking for potential winners at the festival meeting in March, they left here hoping instead for positive news on Nicky Henderson’s Sir Gino. The most exciting prospect in the sport was pulled up with a suspected pelvic injury in the International Hurdle.
Sir Gino went into Saturday’s Grade Two contest as the clear favourite for the Champion Hurdle in March, having gone unbeaten in seven starts including a brilliant novice chase win at Kempton in December 2024. He was held up last of the four runners as Nemean Lion cut out the running and pulled up by Nico de Boinville shortly after jumping the third-last flight.
“They were able to put him into the ambulance,” Henderson said. “It’s his right-hind, and it appears to be high up, so there’s no lower limb fracture. It would appear to be a pelvic injury.
“He has loaded and I’d rather they take him to Three Counties veterinary hospital [in Tewkesbury] without unloading here. Then they can assess and scan and just see where we are.
“Pelvic injuries can be little or big, so we’ve just got to keep everything crossed. We won’t know any more tonight. They need a chance to assess him so it will be late on, I expect.”
In a statement on X, Henderson later added: “Sir Gino was transferred from Cheltenham to the Three Counties Veterinary Clinic and following scans and x-rays he does have a fractured pelvis but having spoken to the great team that are caring for him they are hopeful that although this is obviously significant they have reported that he is comfortable and stable.
“This is great news to us all. The prognosis is guarded and further examinations over the next few days while he is there will be able to determine the extent of the injury and any prognosis for the future. Thank you to everyone for their messages and concerns which are much appreciated and we will keep everyone up-to-date with any further news but the fact that he’s comfortable tonight is the most important thing. Thank you.”
The New Lion, the second-favourite for Saturday’s race and the Champion Hurdle beforehand, stayed on well up the hill to beat Nemean Lion by a length and a half, but he returned to a subdued winner’s enclosure as fans waited for news about Sir Gino.
“I’m a big fan of this sport,” said Dan Skelton, The New Lion’s trainer. “ Sir Gino could be the best horse in training and we just didn’t need that. The team at Seven Barrows have been through hell and back to get him back on track and hopefully he is OK.”
The New Lion was cut to around 5-2 for the Champion Hurdle after his win and Skelton said: “We needed to get a clear round after [falling in the Fighting Fifth Hurdle at] Newcastle and Harry [Skelton, The New Lion’s jockey] did exactly what I wanted him to do and held him into the bottom of all the jumps.
“The unanswered question with this horse is the speed angle and he showed a lot of speed at Newcastle despite ending up on the floor. He showed a lot of speed there as well from turning in to the last, and then from the last to the line.”
Skelton, the clear leader in the race for the 2025-26 National Hunt trainers’ championship, had seen his main Gold Cup prospect, Grey Dawning, finish third of the four runners behind Spillane’s Tower in the Grade Two Cotswold Chase.
Jack Kennedy was aboard Spillane’s Tower for the first time since Jimmy Mangan’s gelding split Fact To File and Galopin Des Champs in a memorable running of the John Durkan Memorial Chase in 2024. He oozed confidence throughout on the eight-year-old before quickening past L’Homme Presse on the run up the hill.
Sedgefield 1.40 Dixie Cowboy 2.10 Rosie Baloo 2.40 Kazar Forez 3.10 Indian River (nap) 3.40 Tom Creen 4.10 Kaviar Wood (nb)
This was a significant and impressive return to form for Spillane’s Tower after two lacklustre runs over hurdles this season. He was cut from 50-1 to 10-1 for the Cheltenham Gold Cup by Paddy Power, in a market still looking for a clear favourite.
“It’s my first [winner in Britain] since Monty’s Pass [in the 2003 Grand National],” Mangan said. “I would have gone back to Ireland a disappointed man if he had put up a poor show today. I suppose you do have to start dreaming of the Gold Cup and he’s in that grade now.”
The Trials Day card concluded in near-darkness after the final race was delayed for around 30 minutes following the discovery of a hole in the turf, prompting an inspection and a reconfiguration of the course.
Nicky Henderson withdrew the likely favourite, Act Of Innocence, and the eventual result – a narrow win for Joe Tizzard’s Kripticjim over Taurus Bay – was announced only after prolonged examination of a photo-finish image taken in the very last of the light and then further reference to video footage.
Plumpton 1.20 Catch On Me 1.50 Eddie My Eagle 2.20 Superstylin 2.50 Good To Be Alive 3.20 Either Or 3.50 Shantou Lucky 4.20 Frank Stamper
Hereford 2.00 Draco Malfoy 2.30 Risk De Pluie 3.00 Royal Mer 3.30 Ukantango 4.00 Stattler 4.30 Princess Keri
Wolverhampton 3.55 Master Dandy 4.25 Nordic Glory 5.00 Watchdog (nap) 5.30 Mister Moet 6.00 Chantelle 6.30 Enpassant 7.00 Eupator (nb) 7.30 Donna Nook 8.00 Knight Of Magic
“Basically from what I can work out, the photo you can’t see because it’s too dark,” Ben Pauling, the trainer of Taurus Bay, said, “so they have to use video footage and in my eyes that is conclusive [that] Joe’s horse wins by a head.”
Harry Redknapp, the owner of Taurus Bay, was similarly philosophical. “It was strange wasn’t it, it’s been a strange old day,” Redknapp said. “I thought he got beat there at the finish, but I won a King George by a nose [with The Jukebox Man in December] and I can’t have it all my way I suppose.”
Jon Pullin, Cheltenham’s clerk of the course, later told Racing TV that the issue had been “a single hole” in the course. “It was a single hole, there weren’t any other holes,” Pullin said. “It was about a foot deep, there’s a gap underneath it, we moved off the area, checked the area we were due to race on and all participants were happy to carry on.
“It could be [a drainage hole], it’s too early to say at this stage. We need to do further work to understand exactly what has caused it.
“We need time to understand what has caused this incident and that is what we will start with straight away.”
