I IMAGINE it was a closer call than many will have thought, but I have decided to ride Angels Breath in the Supreme.
I have an awful lot of time for Mister Fisher, and he has always shown us plenty at home.
Crucially, he has translated that gallops ability to the track this season, with a victory over last weekend’s Grade 2 Kelso winner Rouge Vif at Kempton followed by such a success of his own when seeing off Bright Forecast in the Rossington Main at Haydock.
I clearly know the runner-up very well, and he is Ballymore-bound, so it wouldn’t surprise me in the slightest were Mister Fisher to run a huge race in the Festival-opener.
But I feel I am right to keep the faith in Angels Breath, not that I thought he lost anything in defeat in the Dovecote, bar the winning prize on the day.
Far from it.
I said before the race that, win or lose, we wanted something to build on at Kempton, and I certainly wasn’t at all downbeat afterwards.
Throw everything into the mix, and I actually thought it was hugely promising.
He was carrying a 5lb penalty for starters, on his first outing since he made his debut over hurdles at Ascot in December, and doing so on the quickest ground he has faced yet, not that I necessarily feel he needs plenty of cut.
But the manner in which he went through the contest, racing a bit too keenly and then taking a blow when I asked him to go about his business, before finishing off his race so well, led me to believe there is plenty more to come from him.
Remember, he was also one of our horses who had to have a flu jab before that run.
It’s fair to say that we expect a big run from him next Tuesday.
A strongly-run race with cut in the ground will hopefully see him in his element, but let’s just get him there fit and well first.
The same obviously applies to our Champion Hurdle horses, and I have decided to ride Brain Power here.
There is very little between him and Verdana Blue in terms of talent, but the probability of soft ground – or at least on the soft side – on Tuesday has just swayed me.
If they don’t get much more rain though, I could be having second thoughts!
️ Nicky Henderson on @CheltenhamRaces
Hard not to be excited now! pic.twitter.com/nT4wD4D0mW
— Unibet Racing (@UnibetRacing) March 7, 2019
