Nicky Henderson: “I am delighted to hear Kempton’s plans have been downsized”

I AM absolutely delighted to hear that plans to develop housing on Kempton’s racetrack have been downsized and that horse racing, as it should be, is set to continue for the foreseeable future.

Kempton has been, and will remain, one of my favourite tracks in the country because it is such a unique course and the ground is always very good and well maintained. To be fair it’s been a very wet winter and the likes of Sandown and Ascot, which are just down the road, have done well to stage racing but Kempton copes with it so much better which is why I was a very strong advocate that racing should continue there as we all badly need it for racing’s sake, not to mention from a financial point of view for Jockey Club Racecourses, so this is really great news.

We have enjoyed some tremendous success at the course not least with the Long Runs and Might Bites of this world winning the King George as well as being very lucky in the Christmas Hurdle. It’s a fantastic track to introduce novice chasers as the fences are fair and the course is a also a fantastic place for bumper horses. My only ‘concern’ is that when they say for the ‘foreseeable future’ they won’t change their minds once I stop training and they’ve got rid of pesky old Henderson!

I’m looking forward to having runners at Kempton on Friday but before that we have an important representative at Huntingdon tomorrow in the shape of Shishkin who takes his chance in the Sidney Banks Memorial Hurdle. He is in great form at home and all being well this will put him spot-on for Cheltenham next month.