With the clock ticking down to the 2025 edition of the Cheltenham Festival – now only a little over a month away – this weekend sees eyes turn to Newbury in search of clues ahead of the biggest events.
The Grade 2 duo of the Denman Chase and Game Spirit Chase share top billing at the Berkshire venue. It would be slightly surprising to see a Cheltenham Festival winner emerge from an average renewal of the former event for the stayers. However, the 2025 Game Spirit field features the horse many believe is one of Britain’s best chances at the magnificent meeting in March. Will the Nicky Henderson star Sir Gino be the next to claim Game Spirit glory ahead of victory on the biggest stage?
An Impressive Roll of Honour
The £85,000 Game Spirit Chase may “only” be a Grade 2 affair, but the list of previous winners is littered with bona fide Grade 1 stars. Dunkirk and Pendil are amongst the famous Game Spirit winners from yesteryear. More recently, the 2m½f contest has fallen to Queen Mother Champion Chase winners Viking Flagship, Azertyuiop, Master Minded, Sprinter Sacre, and Altior, who won the 2017, 2018, and 2020 editions.
Arkle Favourite to Hand Henderson a Sixth Win?
With five previous wins, Nicky Henderson sits two behind perennial rival Paul Nicholls in the all-time Game Spirit Trainer’s table. The master of Seven Barrows has drawn a blank since that third success by Altior but looks to have outstanding claims of adding to his tally in 2025.
Sir Gino flies the flag for Henderson on Saturday afternoon, having stormed to the head of the Arkle Challenge Trophy market. The son of It’s Gino is already a general price of 8/13 to claim the Grade 1 event on the opening day of the Cheltenham Festival. He may be even shorter if he produces another emphatic display here. From what we have seen to date, there is no reason to suspect he won’t.
Perfect So Far
Sir Gino has a way to go before he can challenge the status of Constitution Hill as stable star at the talent-laden Henderson yard. However, he can scarcely have made a better start to his career.
Sourced from France following a Listed hurdles success at Auteuil, Sir Gino has carried the colours of Mrs J Donnelly in style since making his British debut at Kempton in December 2023. Two starts over hurdles yielded two wins by a combined 24l, seeing the horse rocket towards the head of the Triumph Hurdle market. He ultimately missed the 2024 Festival due to the cloud hanging over the Henderson yard but confirmed himself a real Grade 1 star when claiming the big Juvenile Hurdle at the Aintree Grand National Meeting.
Given that promise over the smaller obstacles, many were surprised that Henderson intended to send Sir Gino straight over fences in 2024/25. The issues surrounding Constitution Hill delayed that plan, with Sir Gino stepping in to replace his stablemate in the Fighting Fifth Hurdle at Newcastle. Following an eight-length victory in that Grade 1 affair, the Sir Gino hype reached a fever pitch. If he was so good over hurdles, what did Henderson believe he could do over fences?
The first part of the answer to that question arrived when Sir Gino made his chase debut in the Grade 2 Wayward Lad Novices’ Chase. The Willie Mullins-trained superstar, Ballyburn, was expected to at least give Sir Gino something to think about that day. Instead, Sir Gino burnished his gleaming reputation to dismiss his rival in a 7½l canter. If in anything like the same form here, he will surely be very tough to beat.
Five Brave Rivals
Thus far, Sir Gino has looked every inch the new superstar on the 2m chasing scene. However, he still has to prove it at Grade 1 level, with this contest representing the next step towards his Cheltenham Festival destiny.
No doubt, the market leader is the star attraction, but there is no such thing as a one-horse race (well, except when it’s a walkover!). If Sir Gino has an off day, or perhaps isn’t all he is cracked up to be, the following five rivals will hope to pick up the pieces on Saturday afternoon.
- Matata – This Nigel Twiston-Davies-trained course winner arrives on the up following a 10l win at Windsor in January
- Edwardstone – Now 11 years old, but a Grade 1 winner in his pomp, including the 2022 Arkle. He arrives as the defending champ, having sauntered to a 40l success in 2024
- Libberty Hunter – Quickly proved too good for handicaps in his debut chase campaign but came up short in Graded company at Aintree. Returned with an impressive win at Cheltenham, but faces a big step up in class
- Master Chewy – Grade 2 winner who fell when still in contention in the 2024 Arkle. Not so good this season, including when well behind Libberty Hunter last time
- JPR One – Joe Tizzard stable star who has claimed two Grade 2 Novice Chase events over this trip. Talented, but below par on his only previous visit to this track
The betting market suggests the above quintet will struggle to land a blow on Sir Gino. Have the oddsmakers got this right? Or could we be in for a shock? We will find out at 3pm on Saturday.
