Nicholas John Henderson LVO OBE (born 10 December 1950) is a British racehorse trainer. He has been British jump racing Champion Trainer six times. [1]
Nicholas John Henderson LVO OBE (born 10 December 1950) is a British racehorse trainer. He has been British jump racing Champion Trainer six times. [1]
His father was Johnny Henderson who was one of the founders of the Racecourse Holdings Trust as well as earlier in life being Aide-de-camp to Field Marshal Montgomery. In 2005 two years after Johnny Henderson's death Cheltenham renamed one of the races at the Cheltenham Festival in his honour as the Johnny Henderson Grand Annual Chase. In 2006 Nicky Henderson won this race with a horse called Greenhope.
Henderson, educated at Eton College, has been a trainer since 1978, based at Seven Barrows near Lambourn, Berkshire. Previously he was an amateur jockey, and assistant trainer to Fred Winter between 1974 and 1978.
His most notable successes have come with See You Then, winner of the Champion Hurdle in 1985, 1986 and 1987; Remittance Man, winner of the Queen Mother Champion Chase in 1992; Punjabi, winner of the Smurfit Kappa Champion Hurdle in 2009 at the Cheltenham Festival, Binocular, winner of the 2010 Champion Hurdle, Long Run, winner of the 2011 Cheltenham Gold Cup and Bobs Worth, winner of the 2013 Cheltenham Gold Cup. Binocular's Champion Hurdle gave Henderson a fifth win in the race, equalling the record held by Peter Easterby. Zaynar, another horse he trained, also won at the 2009 Cheltenham Festival in the Triumph Hurdle. He was Champion Trainer in the 1985/86 and 1986/87 seasons. His record at the Cheltenham Festival is particularly good and amongst currently active trainers only Willie Mullins has won more races at the Festival than Henderson. His main stable jockey was Mick Fitzgerald until Fitzgerald was forced to retire by an injury sustained in the 2008 Grand National; from the 2008–09 season until the 2014–15 season Barry Geraghty was Henderson's principal jockey in Britain. At the start of the 2015–16 season Nico de Boinville became Henderson's principal jockey after Geraghty replaced Tony McCoy as the principal jockey of J P McManus.
One of Henderson's most popular horses in recent years, Caracciola, won the Cesarewitch Handicap flat race at Newmarket in 2008 at odds of 50/1 as an 11-year-old, despite mainly being a National Hunt horse. Caracciola followed up this success by winning the Queen Alexandra Stakes at Royal Ascot in 2009 as a 12-year-old with Eddie Ahern riding on both occasions. Henderson claimed his second winner at the famous Royal Ascot meeting when Veiled won the 2011 Ascot Stakes at 11/2. In 2013 Henderson had another important win with his horse Bobs Worth (bought for only £20,000) continuing his unbeaten streak at Cheltenham with a win in the Gold Cup. This was despite Henderson raising concerns about the suitability of the soft ground before the race started.
Henderson was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2020 New Year Honours for services to horse racing. [2]
In June 2009, Henderson was found guilty by a British Horseracing Authority panel of breaching the rules of racing, after Moonlit Path, a mare he trains for the Queen, failed a drugs test. Henderson admitted to three of the four charges he faced in relation to the case, in which a prohibited anti-bleeding drug was found in the horse's bloodstream. Henderson accepted that the drug should not have been administered, but argued that it had been done so for the horse's welfare, and that he had not been attempting to enhance performance. [3]
A further hearing was held in July 2009 to determine the sanction to be applied, and Henderson was fined £40,000 (a record penalty for the sport in the UK) and banned from running horses for three months (11 July to 10 October 2009). However, as Henderson is primarily a jumps trainer and this ban was during the flat season it caused him little inconvenience. He was allowed to continue training during the "ban" (which could more accurately be described as a suspension rather than a ban) but was not allowed to enter horses for the period of his ban. The majority of his flat horses were sent to his friend and fellow Lambourn trainer Barry Hills, highest profile of these horses being Caracciola. He caused a little controversy when he attended Royal Ascot when the horse ran but was not breaking any rules as he had not been "warned off" and he was a guest of Barry Hills.
Ireland
France
Sir Anthony Peter McCoy, commonly known as AP McCoy or Tony McCoy, is a Northern Irish former National Hunt horse racing jockey. Based in Ireland and Britain, McCoy rode a record 4,358 winners, and was Champion Jockey a record 20 consecutive times, every year that he was a professional.
Barry Geraghty is a retired Irish jockey. He is the second most successful jockey of all time at the Cheltenham Festival.
The Arkle Challenge Trophy is a Grade 1 National Hunt steeplechase in Great Britain which is open to horses aged five years or older. It is run on the Old Course at Cheltenham, England, over a distance of about 2 miles, and during its running there are thirteen fences to be jumped. The race is for novice chasers, and takes place each year during the Cheltenham Festival in March.
The Champion Hurdle is a Grade 1 National Hunt hurdle race in Great Britain which is open to horses aged four years or older. It is run on the Old Course at Cheltenham over a distance of about 2 miles and ½ furlong, and during its running there are eight hurdles to be jumped. The race is the last leg of the Triple Crown of Hurdling and is scheduled to take place each year on the opening day of the Cheltenham Festival in March.
John Joseph "Jonjo" O'Neill is an Irish National Hunt racehorse trainer and former jockey. He is a native of Castletownroche, County Cork in Ireland. Based at the Jackdaws Castle training establishment in England. O'Neill twice won the British Champion Jockey title and won the Cheltenham Gold Cup on the mare, Dawn Run who became the only horse to complete the double of winning the Champion Hurdle and the Gold Cup at the Cheltenham Festival. He won 900 races as a jockey.
The Christmas Hurdle is a Grade 1 National Hunt hurdle race in Great Britain which is open to horses aged four years or older. It is run at Kempton Park over a distance of about 2 miles, and during its running there are eight hurdles to be jumped. The race is the second leg of the Triple Crown of Hurdling and is scheduled to take place each year during the King George VI Chase meeting on Boxing Day.
The Clarence House Chase is a Grade 1 National Hunt steeplechase in Great Britain which is open to horses aged five years or older. It is run at Ascot over a distance of about 2 miles and 1 furlong, and during its running there are thirteen fences to be jumped. The race is scheduled to take place each year in January.
The Celebration Chase is a Grade One National Hunt steeplechase in Great Britain which is open to horses aged five years or older. It is run at Sandown Park over a distance of about 1 mile 7½ furlongs, and during its running there are thirteen fences to be jumped. The race is scheduled to take place each year in late April.
Richard Johnson is a retired English National Hunt jockey. Johnson is the second most prolific winner in the history of National Hunt Racing behind Sir Anthony McCoy, a long-time rival of Johnson's, with over 3500 winners. Richard Dunwoody previously held the record with 1874.
Aidan Coleman is a retired Irish National Hunt jockey. During a seventeen-year career based in Great Britain, he rode four winners at the Cheltenham Festival and a total of 13 Grade 1 winners. In June 2023 he sustained a serious leg injury in a fall at Worcester and was unable to return to race-riding. He announced his retirement on medical advice in April 2024.
Noel Meade is a horse trainer from Castletown, County Meath, Ireland. He established Tu Va Stables in Meath as a place to train his horses.
Davy Russell is an Irish retired National Hunt jockey. He was Irish jump racing Champion Jockey three times, and won the Grand National (twice), the Cheltenham Gold Cup and the Grand Steeple-Chase de Paris.
Sprinter Sacre, is a French-bred, British-trained Selle Français racehorse. He currently has the third highest ever Timeform steeplechase rating of 192p, behind only Arkle on 212 and Flyingbolt on 210 as their highest in the modern era.
Sizing Europe is an Irish National Hunt horse, best known for winning the 2011 Queen Mother Champion Chase at Cheltenham. He won the Irish Champion Hurdle in 2008 before switching to chasing, where he has won six Grade 1s over fences.
Nicolai "Nico" W. Chastel de Boinville is an English horse racing jockey who competes in National Hunt racing. De Boinville has ridden more Grade One winners than any British jumps jockey currently active.
Noel Fehily is a retired Irish professional horse racing jockey. Throughout his professional career, he has enjoyed substantial success including the King George VI Chase and Champion Hurdle, despite enduring significant injuries.
Altior is an Irish-bred British-trained Thoroughbred racehorse who competes in National Hunt races. After winning one of his three National Hunt Flat races he was unbeaten in five hurdle races including the Sharp Novices' Hurdle and Supreme Novices' Hurdle. In the 2016/2017 National Hunt season he won six consecutive steeplechases including the Henry VIII Novices' Chase, Wayward Lad Novices' Chase, Game Spirit Chase, Arkle Challenge Trophy and the Celebration Chase.
Buveur d'Air is a retired French-bred British-trained AQPS racehorse who competed in National Hunt races. After winning twice in his native France he moved to England and won the Top Novices' Hurdle in 2016. In the following season he won two steeplechases before reverting to hurdle races to win the Contenders Hurdle and then recording his biggest success in the Champion Hurdle. In the 2017–18 season he was unbeaten, winning the Fighting Fifth Hurdle, Christmas Hurdle and a second Champion Hurdle, so becoming the second horse, after Kribensis, to win the Triple Crown of Hurdling. The 2018-19 season saw him win both the Fighting Fifth Hurdle and the Contenders Hurdle for the second time. In November 2019 he sustained a freak injury in the Fighting Fifth Hurdle and did not race for the rest of the season.
Constitution Hill is a British Thoroughbred racehorse that competes in hurdle racing. He recorded his biggest victory when winning the 2023 Champion Hurdle and has been acclaimed as one of the best hurdlers of all time.
Shishkin was an Irish-bred British-trained thoroughbred racehorse who competed in National Hunt races. A dual Cheltenham Festival winner, he won 14 of his 21 races including six Grade 1s with his best performance generally regarded as the Clarence House Chase victory over Energumene. He was trained by Nicky Henderson and ridden by Nico de Boinville.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
