A classy second place in the Game Spirit was an excellent return to action for Nicky Henderson’s Cheltenham Festival contender
Champ has halved in price for the Cheltenham Gold Cup next month, thanks to a prep run here which was about as impressive as a beaten effort could be. Considering he had not raced for 11 months and was facing specialist two-milers when he wants to go half as far again, it was a serious effort to finish just two lengths behind Sceau Royal and he is now 6-1 second-favourite for the Festival highlight, having been 12-1 hours before.
Some were inclined to fear Nicky Henderson had forgotten how to train when the Lambourn man announced Champ would line up in the Game Spirit rather than the longer Denman. The horse had, after all, looked every inch a stayer when making a late charge to land the RSA last March and there was every reason to worry that his jumping would suffer at two-mile pace, Champ having put himself on the deck two races ago.