Lulamba one of the Henderson ‘A-team’ waiting for action

Nicky Henderson is ready and waiting to unleash some of his star names as the jumps season moves into gear leading up to Christmas.

Supreme Novices’ Hurdle winner Old Park Star and Jonbon are the elite Seven Barrows names poised to grace Prestbury Park this weekend, but the Lambourn handler already has half an eye on the remainder of November, where Lulamba and Holloway Queen have their own big-race assignments.

The former will attempt to follow in the footsteps of stablemate Jango Baie by successfully returning in Ascot’s Ladbrokes 1965 Chase on Saturday week, while at the end of the month National Hunt Chase winner Holloway Queen will bid for Coral Gold Cup glory on home Newbury soil.

Henderson said: “We’ve got Ascot and Newbury coming up after Cheltenham and we’re really getting into the A-team now.

“Lulamba is certainly one that we’re looking forward to and there’s quite a few to come into those Ascot races at that (two-day) meeting

“Then we go to Newbury where we are trying to get Holloway Queen ready for the Coral Gold Cup. She is just a notoriously lazy girl – she’s not the easiest to get fit, but we’re very happy with where she is.”

It is not unusual for Henderson to only truly get rolling at this part of the season, but the task has been made even harder due to the unseasonably quick ground that has seen fixtures both shelved or rearranged up and down the country.

Nevertheless, he is optimistic his string is in good order and ready to make their mark – despite the absence of an old friend now plying his trade on the Flat leaving a void yet to be filled.

“We’ve kind of purposely stood back a bit as what I didn’t want to do was have them ready and then nowhere to go (with conditions),” continued Henderson.

“The big meetings coming up the next three weekends are where we want to be and we’re going to have a lot of first-time-outers. Some of the opposition might have had a run already and we are a bit behind.

“But I’d be reasonably happy and confident that what we have been running has not desperately been needing it and getting away with it. They’ve taken a blow, but they’ve been pretty good and every week that goes by they are going to be more forward as we approach these big days hopefully.”

He went on: “The only sad thing missing is going to be a two-mile hurdler like Constitution Hill and we won’t have anything to run in races that have been rather kind to us like the Fighting Fifth and Christmas Hurdle. But we can still go all-weather racing thankfully with the old boy.”

Reflecting on the early salvos of a season that has seen Henderson have to look beyond some of his traditional starting points in some divisions, he is appreciative of the tough task facing racecourses combating a dry spell that has left courses that were scorched in the summer still in need of water.

“It’s the same for everyone really and it’s either safe or it is not and I’m afraid we (trainers) have to be the judges of that and make our own opinion,” explained Henderson.

“Nico (de Boinville) is very good at walking courses and giving an accurate description and I can trust him as much as my stick.

“We sympathise with all the clerks of the course and some racecourses have already used up a lot of their supplies (of water) and there’s racecourses still unraceable.

“It just shows how dramatic the situation is and we haven’t even started properly yet. This would be the first big weekend and we’re only scratching the surface with a runner here and there, we’re a runner or two behind at the moment, but we’ll catch up.”