Old Park Star was the sixth Supreme Novices’ Hurdle winner for Nicky Henderson last season and is now four from four for the Seven Barrows yard. The son of Well Chosen is set to make his chase debut at Cheltenham this weekend, providing the ground is suitable, and he looks to have all the tools required to make a high-class chaser.
Nicky Henderson hasn’t hidden his admiration for him, but who does Old Park Star have to live up to in order to be considered a Seven Barrows great in time?
5. Jonbon
Jonbon has become one of Nicky Henderson’s most successful two-mile chasers in recent years. The Walk In The Park gelding has never finished out of the top two in 28 starts, winning 20 of them in total.
15 of his victories have come over fences, including 11 Grade 1s. As remarkable as he’s been, his failure to win at the Cheltenham Festival is the only chink in his otherwise incredibly hardy armour.
4. Finian’s Rainbow
In the colours of Michael Buckley, Finian’s Rainbow was a promising novice hurdler who hit the frame in the Challow Hurdle, but as with the majority of the yard’s hurdlers, he excelled over fences.
He was met with defeat just once as a novice chaser, finishing second to Captain Chris in the Arkle. A season later, he made amends at Cheltenham with triumph in the Champion Chase, before successfully stepping up in trip in the Melling Chase.
His form tailed off thereafter, for all he was able to finish second to rising star Sire De Grugy in the 2013 Celebration Chase.
3. Remittance Man
Nicky Henderson won the first of his eight Arkles in 1991 with Remittance Man, who was the original star two-miler at Seven Barrows.
Partnered by Richard Dunwoody, he won all six of his races as a novice chaser, including two Grade 2s en route to Cheltenham. A year later, he’d win the Champion Chase and the Melling Chase, followed by three further chase victories.
2. Altior
Altior ended his hurdling campaign with a seven-length success in the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle before going on to dominate the two-mile chase division.
His novice season saw him unbeaten in six, winning three Grade 1s including the Arkle. Altior had developed an air of immortality and would go on to win six more Grade 1s in an unbeaten run that stretched to eight victories, including two Champion Chases.
He was minded thereafter, with just four races in two seasons that saw him win just once, but it was no surprise to see him dip below his brilliant best after dominating for such a period.
1. Sprinter Sacre
Sprinter Sacre is undoubtedly one of the most successful horses to come out of Seven Barrows. The Network gelding was unbeaten in bumpers before a respectable novice hurdle campaign that saw him finish third in the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle.
It was no surprise to see his hurdling career short-lived, as he went on to become one of the sport’s greatest two-mile chasers. His novice season saw him unbeaten in five, including the Grade 1 Arkle and the Maghull Novices’ Chase.
Five more Grade 1s followed in an unbeaten campaign the following season, but the two seasons thereafter were blighted by health issues, and he seemingly wasn’t the same again.
Despite calls for him to be retired, Sprinter Sacre was nursed back to full health by Nicky Henderson to again finish a season unbeaten, including a famous recapture of his Champion Chase crown in 2016.