Horse Racing: Henderson gets 2000th win at Kempton
Trainer Nicky Henderson’s name will be written in horseracing history, next to elites such as the famous Arthur Stephenson who hold 2644 victories over jumps under his name, as the trainer to register 2000 winning horses over jumps in all of Britain, thanks
to Punchestown’s attaining first place in the graduation chase run over 2 miles and 4 and a ½ furlongs at Kempton on Friday.
Henderson’s first winner Dukery was ridden by Bob Davies and sent out at Uttoxeter in October of the year 1978. It has been thirty years since that very first victory by a horse who was, back then, under the care of an amateur-at-best trainer.
Henderson also took up amateur riding and proved to be quite good at it; however, he still continued to assist trainer Fred Winter between 1974 and 1978. It was after the time spent with Winter that Henderson decided to pursue a career in training. Unbeknownst
to him, this career would be immensely successful and his claim to fame.
Among his 2000 wins, the ones that have brought him most success are the five record-breaking Champion Hurdle wins –three by See You Then and one each by Punjabi and Binocular- and the Remittance Man’s Champion Chase. These victories are part of the larger
number of Cheltenham Festival wins, which are at thirty seven –only three wins short of breaking Fulke Walwyn’s record of forty victories at Cheltenham.
When asked for his thoughts and comments on his rare and spectacular achievement, Henderson is reported to have said that he was glad that the 2000th victory turned out the way it did –with the race being at Kempton and the horse Punchestown,
owned by Judy Wilson. He believes that all those factors were a huge contribution to the victory. He credits all fans and connections and believes it has been a “team effort” all through the 32 years of his career.
Henderson is, however, yet to beat Martin Pipe who is the leading jump trainer of all time. Trainer Pipe has an amazing 3930 wins over jumps under his belt while the total number of wins that his horses have raked in for him is 4183, which make him the trainer
who holds most victories in the history of horse racing in Britain.
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