Horse racing Nicky Henderson hopes to have news on sidelined Altior by the weekend • Chaser faces race against time to be fit for Cheltenham• Altior was odds-on for Champion Chase before setback Altior pictured winning at last year’s Cheltenham Festival. Photograph: Pat Healy/racingfotos.com/Rex/ShutterstockNicky Henderson said on Wednesday he could know as soon as this weekend whether an operation in November has cured a wind problem affecting Altior, the country’s outstanding two-mile chaser. Altior was already odds-on for the Champion Chase in March with many bookmakers when it emerged on 15 December that the eight-year-old had “made a noise” at exercise four days earlier. Even if he is not competing, a big crowd on Betfair day here should still catch sight of Altior at some stage. “Whatever happens, if he’s not quite ready for the Game Spirit I’d be asking Richard [Osgood, Newbury’s clerk of the course] if he could come and have a gallop,” Henderson said.

Source: The Guardian January 17, 2018 16:37 UTC