When Istabraq met Binocular

Dave Ord was at Seven Barrows to witness a meeting of equine superstars as the great Istabraq paid a visit to current champ Binocular.

Irish legend meets up with the current champ

Earlier this week two National Hunt greats collided when JP McManus sent his triple Champion Hurdler Istabraq over from Ireland to meet his current Cheltenham king Binocular. Our Dave Ord was on hand at Nicky Henderson's Seven Barrows stable to witness the event, and got the lowdown on both horses from Henderson himself. It's good to see Istabraq over here. Is it a subtle hint from JP that your work with Binocular isn't done yet? It's fun to see him - I fear he's going to have to return to Martinstown tomorrow. It's very good of him to send him over and it's fun to have him here. I'd love to keep him - it would be good to find out how good he really was. It's fun and Binocular has a long way to go before he catches up with Istabraq. Punjabi won it two years ago and Binocular was only just a length behind him then. If things had gone differently that day we could actually be trying for our third one rather than our second. He's got a long way to go before he catches up with that old boy. In terms of Istabraq Nicky, you ran horses in the Champion against him and ran really well against him - what was he like to compete against? We were lucky enough that the previous triple winner was See You Then who we had. Istabraq had as you know that Irish association with Cheltenham that's very very special. His last year we actually jumped the last in front - it was a waste of time - with Blue Royal. I was coming back into the unsaddling enclosure with Lynn Wilson, a great great friend. When we were in the unsaddling enclosure having finished third he said it was one of the most memorable moments of his life - to have been in that amphitheatre when Istabraq came into that unsaddling enclosure. The roar and the noise, it was just one of those great moments that one will always remember. He was that sort of horse - the fact he was Irish probably made a bit of difference. But it was just a fantastic atmosphere. Nicky, as you said you trained See You Then - another triple winner. Just how difficult is it for these champions to come back year after year defending their crowns?

I think everybody knows these are fragile athletes.Getting them back isn't easy. See You Then failed the fourth time, Istabraq failed the fourth time. To get them there three times, I know what we went through and I suspect I know what Aidan and Charlie Swan were going through at the time, let alone JP - who is absolutely passionate about his horses. I know Binocular means everything to him at the moment, and you can see from the size of Istabraq I think he gets pretty spoilt at home! I've been over there with JP and I know he just adores him. I know Binocular is a horse that's very close to him. We've got the responsibility now of trying to keep the show on the road and get him there. This is the start of the road to next March - this is not the Champion Hurdle this weekend. It is the start of the build-up to it - and my only job is to try to make sure I get him there in March. I know Nicky he had you tearing your hair out last year, it was a troubled preparation for Binocular. How's it been this time round? How does he compare to the horse that went up to Newcastle this time last year? I would have to say I'd be a lot happier. I don't say it was obvious that there was anything missing at the time. I knew it was going to be tough. We knew it was a tough race and I certainly wasn't confident. I'm not going to be confident now but I'd be confident he's in better form. Going into the Champion Hurdle, what were your realistic expectations for Binocular? How hopeful were you beforehand that you had him in the form he turned out to be in? Well as you know it had been a horrendous winter. Newcastle went wrong, Kempton wasn't too bad. But what was missing all the time was this incredible slick jumping. It just wasn't him. When he is jumping and he's good, he's like Istabraq, he's like See You Then. These horses, they are champions because they have this absolutely natural ability to cross a hurdle so quickly and so slickly. That's what he wasn't doing all last year. After we put him away really and nearly gave up on the whole idea, a lot of work was done on him by a lot of people. He came back into training and we schooled him a fortnight before and it was blatlantly obvious that one sparkly thing - his jumping technique - was back. And with that back the hope was you got the horse back. And that's what it proved - he could do it again.