For some 1985 marks the year of their wedding day or arrival of a first child, but for trainer Nicky Henderson it will only be remembered for one thing – his breakthrough success at the Cheltenham Festival. See You Then, 40 years on… BY GRAHAM CLARK
U p until that moment in time Henderson, who is now the second most successful trainer at The Festival with 73 victories, had found himself out of luck at jump racing’s most prestigious meeting since taking out a licence in 1978. But that was all to change on the afternoon of Tuesday, March 12th, 1985, when the talented, but fragile, See You Then stormed to the first of three successive victories in the Champion Hurdle at odds of 16-1 to help Henderson on the journey to the upper echelons of the sport. This year marks the 40th anniversary of that landmark
success and while Henderson has gone on to be one of the most feared men at The Festival his recollections of that memorable day remain as vivid as ever. Henderson, picking up the story, said: “See You Then joined us from Con Collins about three weeks before the 1984 Triumph Hurdle which he ended up finishing second in before going and winning the Italian equivalent. He returned back to his owners at Stype Wood Stud and we were asked to get him ready to go back to Italy. However, we realised in the autumn just how good he was and we managed to get his owners to keep him in England for a season.
cheltenham.co.uk 13
Made with FlippingBook - professional solution for displaying marketing and sales documents online