NICKY HENDERSON -TAKEN FROM THE MAIL ONLINE

[beaker1]

Gold Cup-winning trainer Nicky Henderson made the astonishing admission on Friday that he’d had a big bet at 16-1 on his own yard not having a single Cheltenham Festival success. The revelation, during a BBC 5 Live interview, was all the more surprising considering the ongoing racing authority investigation into Henderson’s book-keeping of drugs treatments, following the withdrawal of Binocular from the Champion Hurdle. Even more bizarrely, the wager, believed to be £1,000, was struck with the full backing of Cheltenham managing director Edward Gillespie, who discussed the bet when Henderson was their guest at a Festival preview dinner in London last week. Gillespie said: ‘I discussed the intended bet with Nicky during the meal and whether it might be misconstrued by those who don’t understand racing. (Yes, it will) ‘We had no problems with it whatsoever and gave him our 100 per cent backing to go ahead.It was what can be described as an emotional hedge bet.’ Gillespie also had no reservations about the way the racecourse’s new chairman, Robert Waley-Cohen, owner of Gold Cup victor Long Run, shamefully blocked questioning on Binoculargate after the showcase race. Waley-Cohen said: ‘We’re here to talk about Long Run, not what happened in the stables last week.’ Henderson refused again to comment on the background to the Binocular exit, saying only that it had been a ‘very cruel set of circumstances’.

[stewartd14]

Re: NICKY HENDERSON -TAKEN FROM THE MAIL ONLINE £1k - big bet. Give me a break. Typical Daily Mail standard of reporting. Ideal opportunity to put racing in a bad light when not all the facts are given - value of the races at the festival for example. :zzz:zzz