Henderson leaning towards Newbury for Sir Gino before Cheltenham

Nicky Henderson could be tempted to send Sir Gino to the Game Spirit Chase after his imperious chasing debut in the Wayward Lad at Kempton.

The unbeaten Fighting Fifth winner made a seamless switch to the larger obstacles, readily accounting for Willie Mullins’ Cheltenham Festival scorer Ballyburn.

Henderson had always stated Sir Gino was exceptional in his schooling and having seen his verdict justified on the racecourse, he could now run the four-year-old at Newbury on February 8 to further his fencing education in a race he won with both Sprinter Sacre and Altior prior to winning the Arkle.

He told Sky Sports Racing: “I think we had an inkling he was pretty smart at the game and you have to bear in mind Joe (Donnelly, owner) has State Man for the Champion Hurdle as much as we have Constitution Hill, so going chasing was the sensible thing to do if it was going to work.

“Thankfully it wasn’t quite as stupid as it might have seen and Nico (de Boinville) and I had a pretty good idea.

“It’s a possible (he goes to Newbury), it’s a funny way to do it, but Jonbon hopefully won’t be needed as he’s going to the Clarence House (at Ascot). We did it with Altior as a novice and it’s just a nice track to come to.

“That or the Kingmaker at Warwick (on the same day) are the obvious two.”

Henderson also reported that Constitution Hill had been back out on the Seven Barrows gallops on Saturday morning after his spine-tingling comeback victory in the Christmas Hurdle on Boxing Day.

In his first outing since winning the Kempton event in 2023, the unbeaten seven-year-old proved the engine still purred loudly as he dispatched Irish challenger Lossiemouth.

Although Henderson is unsure if the Mullins raider was at her best, he was both thrilled with what he saw from Constitution Hill and what he has seen since back home in Lambourn.

Henderson continued: “I feel there is more to come and you can ask Nico, he knows exactly what is happening out there and just going to the last he had a right good heave, which he was entitled to have, it’s been a right old year.

“He was fit for the race, but he has a lot of improvement in him. I have to say he has come back very happy.

“You have got to say was that Lossiemouth at her best? And I suspect she probably wasn’t, but we don’t want to worry about that and the other runners weren’t that stupid. He did what he had to do and when he jumped the second-last he was gone and he quickened up like he always could do.”

He went on: “We’re on course (for Cheltenham) and I always thought if Lossiemouth beat us we would still get our own back in March, so I still hope the same.

“He’s been great since and he was ridden out second lot this morning and you wouldn’t think he had been anywhere.

“I’m still going to sit on the fence as to whether he needs another run. The Unibet Hurdle (at Cheltenham on January 25) would be the one (if he was to run again).”