After early suspicion of a dirty scope, Nicky Henderson says no reason has presented itself for eclipse of his
Christmas stars
Nicky Henderson remains puzzled by the Christmas defeats suffered by a couple of his stars, saying on Wednesday that further tests had failed to pinpoint any reason why Altior and Epatante should have run below form. However, the trainer reported that Altior at least appeared to be in good spirits after his race on Sunday, and insisted he would “certainly not” be closing his Seven Barrows stable.
“Altior is fresh and bright and well, and thank God for that,” Henderson said. “I’ll hope I’ll have him ready for the Game Spirit in February and we’ll take it from there.”