Altior is back in front

Nicky Henderson gets Altior’s Cheltenham campaign back on track, while Native River lands the Betfair Denman Chase

- TOM PEACOCK

RELIEF was the overriding sense at Newbury on Saturday, 8 February, as Altior shook off any hangover from his only defeat over fences and made a possible third consecutive victory in the Queen Mother Champion Chase look very realistic.

The Nicky Henderson-trained mighty gelding was but a novice when he first captured the Win Bigger On The Betfair Exchange Chase (the Game Spirit Chase) back in 2017, part of an unbeaten sequence of 19, which has seen him become National Hunt racing’s shining star.

While that position has not altered, this has not been the ideal campaign as he was outpointed by Cyrname when tried over a longer trip at Ascot and then missed an intended target over Christmas.

Most importantly, Altior — under Nico de Boinville — passed the line more than three lengths clear, showing a telling late surge that has become as much of his trademark as hitting a bit of a flat spot with two or three fences to go. But it was still a performance that will fuel debate from now until the Festival in March.

What was less convincing was his more ponderous jumping, the sort that could be exposed in the cut and thrust of a two-mile showdown against the ascendant Grade One winners Defi Du Seuil and Chacun Pour Soi, which is shaping up to be his toughest yet.