Sir Gino's ‘frightening’ debut over fences leads to major Cheltenham Festival move
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Sir Gino earned comparison with some of trainer Nicky Henderson’s greats when making a spectacular start to his chasing career. The four-year-old was already a Champion Hurdle-level jumper of the smaller obstacles having successfully deputised for Constitution Hill to win the Fighting Fifth Hurdle at Newcastle last month. He was handed his first start over fences in the Grade 2 Ladbrokes Wayward Lad Novices’ Chase in which he was to face Willie Mullins’s star novice Ballyburn, a Cheltenham Festival winner in March.
Sir Gino passed the test with flying colours, soon getting the measure of Ballyburn to jump his way to a seven and a half length success. As a result he was cut to Evens favourite from 11-4 for the Arkle Trophy in March by Betfair. Henderson’s previous winners of the race include Shishkin, Altior, Sprinter Sacre and Remittance Man, who all went on to be champions. Winning jockey Nico de Boinville said: “I think he can be compared with those. He was so quick back on the ground that he was just taking lengths in the air. We knew he had the engine; it was whether he could put it all together. He’s an absolute monster. He’s exceeded my expectations.”.
Henderson has now won the race 11 times but Sir Gino executed his victory without following the script. He was supposed to sit off Ballyburn but jumped his way upsides before taking the lead from the seventh fence. Henderson said: “The way he did it was frightening to be honest. He learnt over the first couple of fences. So far he is unblemished. He has always been a very talented horse. He has so much scope.
