Altior will be part of a high-quality field of six for Saturday’s Tingle Creek Chase as he gets set to make his long-awaited return to action.
The two-mile hero hasn’t been seen since winning a Grade 2 at Newbury in February having been forced to miss the defence of his Champion Chase crown at the Cheltenham Festival due to a splint issue.
Nicky Henderson‘s charge will be back on the track at Sandown this weekend though when he looks to win the Tingle Creek for a second time having triumphed in 2018.
While the 10-year-old is odds-on with the majority of bookmakers to win the race, he looks set to have some serious competition with the Paul Nicholls-trained Politologue poised to make his seasonal reappearance.
The nine-year-old’s last appearance came at Cheltenham when he took Altior’s Champion Chase crown and he’s joined in the line-up by stablemate and recent Haldon Cup winner Greaneteen.
Rogue Vif, Brewin’upastorm and Castlegrace Paddy, the only Irish representative, complete the line up for what should be a good test of Altior’s unbeaten record at Sandown.
Discussing how he views the condition of his stable star to this time last year, Henderson told a Great British Racing media conference earlier this week: “He’s definitely a long, long way ahead of where he was going into Ascot last year because we’ve had a racecourse gallop at Newbury. He’s miles straighter than at Ascot, there’s no doubt about that.”
