Sprinter Sacre rolls back years with stunning victory at Cheltenham

The best anyone really hoped for from Sprinter Sacre at Cheltenham was proof that there was still some life in the old champion.

What we got instead was a wonderful surprise; a performance almost as impressive as anything this brilliant two-miler ever achieved in his pomp.

While over at Punchestown, the Champion Hurdler Faugheen was suffering an unforeseen dent to his reputation with a first career defeat in the Morgiana Hurdle, Sprinter Sacre strutted back to a Festival-decibel reception after a display of utter dominance in the Shloer Chase.

Emotions were pretty raw, too. Nicky Henderson has experienced some huge highs with Sprinter Sacre, unbeaten in his first 10 races over fences, but also some dismal lows, from when a fibrillating heart was first diagnosed in December 2013, and even he sometimes wondered whether he could ever revive this exceptional talent.

“This horse has taken us to some amazing places over the years, but probably not anywhere like that,” said the trainer, holding back a tear, after Sprinter Sacre had drawn 14 lengths clear of that old warrior Somersby up the final hill. “He was back as if he was the king, and he raced like he was the king.

“This had to happen, otherwise the doubters would have been winning the argument,” added Henderson. “And he needed to run here today before the Tingle Creek at Sandown in three weeks. He’s not 100 per cent... he needed a race to bring him on, but he’s going in the right direction.”

That last remark is quite frightening for any rivals because this was a formidable exhibition in every respect, from the moment he bounced into the parade ring as if he owned the place.

His jumping was superb, so good that Nico de Boinville, taking over from Barry Geraghty (claimed to ride Mr Mole), found himself in front sooner than planned after another spring-heeled leap at the fourth last fence.

It was all over bar the thunderous applause soon after and even though understandably tired in the home straight on his first outing of the season, he was able to double his advantage over the runner-up after jumping the last.

It should be noted that Sprinter Sacre was favoured by the weight conditions of the race, but even a conservative interpretation of this performance places it within a stone of his 2013 Queen Mother Champion Chase demolition job, his career high. The bookies have become Sprinter Sacre believers again, slashing his odds for a second Champion Chase next March to 4-1 from 16-1. Un De Sceaux, the runaway Arkle winner, remains a strong favourite at 6-4, but now the old champ is back and we really have a race to savour.

Faugheen’s long odds-on defeat in Ireland can be put down partly to how a tactical race panned out, but was mostly down to the improvement of stablemate Nichols Canyon, a top novice last season – winning four Grade Ones – and clearly a genuine Champion Hurdle contender himself now.

Even so, the result surprised Willie Mullins, who trains them both, as well as the close third Wicklow Brave. “That was completely different from the way they worked on Tuesday when Faugheen left him for dead,” said Mullins. “Maybe he left his race behind him there, I don’t know. Ruby [Walsh] said Faugheen hung throughout the race and just didn’t pick up the way he can. But until he tells me something wasn’t right, I’m not making any excuses.”

Paul Nicholls’ Old Guard is a new name in the Champion Hurdle betting lists, introduced at 25-1 following a comfortable success under 17-year-old claimer Harry Cobden in Cheltenham’s Greatwood Hurdle.