Nicky Henderson runners dominated the 2012 Cheltenham Festival and the trainer admits his horses will have to clash in the big races this season
There was unbridled joy for the Nicky Henderson yard in March as several of his horses claimed the spoils at Cheltenham, including Bobs Worth, Riverside Theatre and Finian’s Rainbow.
Henderson could not have imagined such a level of success although the fact that the Seven Barrows handler has depth in every division ultimately means that his Premier League horses will have to meet at various stages of the forthcoming National Hunt season.
There is the potential for Long Run,Riverside Theatre, Bobs Worth and Champion Chase winner Finian's Rainbow to run over three miles next season, with the quartet potentially facing each other in the King George VI Chase on Boxing Day.
"Bobs Worth will probably start off in the Hennessy. I think that's the right race for him and he probably prefers going left-handed rather than right-handed," Henderson told At The Races.
"The idea would be to step Finian's Rainbow up in trip and really have a look at him. He'd be heading King George way, but then so will Long Run and Riverside Theatre.
"There has to be a clash in the King George I fear, so that's a headache, but it's nice. It's pressure but it's pressure we like dealing with."
Meanwhile, Simonsig was an excellent winner at Cheltenham and Aintree last spring and Henderson is now looking to send him chasing over a shorter distance of two miles.
"I would have no hesitation coming back to two miles. Barry (Geraghty) just felt that two and a half would help him over hurdles, but I think if he went to fences you'd probably see him coming back to two. I would like to think he's an Arkle horse," said Henderson.
"He definitely stays, he stayed two and a half miles well at Cheltenham, but he's a frightening horse in that his gears are all there. He has a very high cruising speed.
"Every now and then you have to do bits of work with these horses and I would let him play around Sprinter Sacre and things like that.
"It's a bit frightening doing that, but as long as you've got very sensible boys on board, you can do it.
"If you didn't, you could get yourself into a lot of trouble."