Sprinter Sacre appears likely to provide a headline attraction for the Sandown card that ends the jumps season a week on Saturday. The veteran chaser, a champion once more after his Cheltenham Festival success last month, is on course for the Celebration Chase according to his trainer, Nicky Henderson.
“I’ve just got a bit of work to do with him,” Henderson said at Cheltenham this week. “He seems very well.” The trainer met Sprinter Sacre’s owner, Caroline Mould, after racing on Wednesday and agreed that Sandown should, ideally, be the venue for the horse’s final run before his summer break.
There are caveats, as Henderson might yet switch Sprinter Sacre to Punchestown’s festival at the end of this month if the going at Sandown turns out to be unappealingly soft. But he hopes to run Simonsig at Punchestown and would naturally prefer to keep them apart.
Sprinter Sacre is unbeaten in three starts this season, having finally recovered from the heart problems and other issues that brought an end to his winning run in December 2013. Once rated the best chaser since Arkle in the 1960s, he went for more than two years without winning a race and was a well-held second in the Sandown contest at the end of last season, prompting much speculation about possible retirement.
He is now a best price of 11-10 for next week’s Celebration Chase, with the Willie Mullins-trained Un De Sceaux a 6-4 chance. A rematch between the pair, first and second at the Festival, would be a huge draw for Sandown but Mullins may decide against sending his horse over if, as seems likely, he has secured his position as British champion trainer by then.
