- National Hunt Racing returns to Windsor on Sunday after a long absence
- It has been twenty years since the racecourse last hosted winter sports
- Trainer Nicky Henderson called it ‘a very exciting day’ for the discipline
Bursting with enthusiasm, Nicky Henderson found himself unexpectedly transported back to a time when he dreamed of success.
Outside the weighing room at Cheltenham, the six-time champion trainer discussed with heightened animation the most significant development in National Hunt racing for many years – the return of jumping at Windsor.
It’s been twenty years since Windsor, a picturesque location on the banks of the Thames, last hosted winter sports – one season, in 2004-05, when neighboring Ascot was being redeveloped – and you have to go back to 1998 for when it held a permanent place on the selection.
But that all changes on Sunday afternoon. A seven-race card heralds a new era for Windsor and will set them up well for the big event in the new year when they and Ascot host The Winter Million, a three-day meeting that will play a crucial role in the build-up to the Cheltenham Festival.
Henderson, whose Seven Barrows yard is just 50 miles off the route along the M4, has promised to have as many runners as possible in Windsor and will send three on Sunday: Excello (12.12), La Pinsonniere (1.20) and Old Tijdjager ( 3.40). After all, this place holds fond memories.
“I think this is great,” he says. ‘It’s a very exciting day for the National Hunt races. It was always a good song. I go back to when I worked for Fred Winter and we sent real horses there and when I started my own business I did the same thing. You went because you would get good land.
National Hunt Racing returns to Windsor on Sunday afternoon after a twenty-year absence
Nicky Henderson said: ‘I love this. It’s a very exciting day for National Hunt Racing’
“You know, I had my first ever doppelgänger there – it was in 1978. I’ll even tell you their names, because they had the same owner – JO Reid and Main Ingredient. I’m probably one of the few trainers who can remember when Windsor was there for us in the show jumping world.’
A look back through the record books gives you an idea of Windsor’s pedigree: Royal Athlete, the 1995 Grand National winner, triumphed on the course, while Baracouda, one of the great enduring hurdlers, and the popular gray Monet’s Garden were successful in 2004.
The course has been reconfigured from the figure-eight shape, synonymous with the flat action, to give the jumpers more room to maneuver and Henderson has such confidence in the surface that, if the right opportunity presents itself, his best performers will be there.
“It’s great to see someone with a bit of enthusiasm saying, ‘Let’s try it,’ and organizing that big meeting in January will be great,” says Henderson. “Last year I took Jonbon there to gallop, along with a few others. It will be a lot of fun.’
Charlie Moore, head of group racing at Arena Racing, is enthusiastic about the feedback. “It was great for hearing trainers to plan the Winter Million meeting,” he says.
“We look forward to racing on Sunday and welcome our colleagues from the jump racing world.”