Trainer and owner undecided about Denman’s fate
Denman’s owner, Paul K Barber, and trainer, Paul Nicholls, have still not decided about the fate of the legendary horse after his retirement, which is due next Christmas.
The 12-year-old gelding picked up a leg injury last year, rendering himself incapable to compete in the big events. He ran for the last time in April, 2011, and finished fifth sent as the 5-4 favourite.
The veteran runner achieved his last victory in November, 2009. Since his debut in March, 2005, Denman has accomplished a number of iconic triumphs, and glorious titles.
The dashing horse notched Cheltenham Gold Cup, in 2008. Apart from this, he has two Hennessy Gold Cup titles to his records list which is enriched with 14 victories.
Denman has run 24 races so far including 5 Hurdle, 19 Chase and 1 PTP. His record over hurdles is excellent as he has won 4 out of 5 starts. Foaled in April 2000, he has earned £1,141,347 so far.
As the star horse, who is termed as “The Tank” for his outstanding heroics, is set to get retired by the end of the calendar year, Nicholls and Barber are not yet sure where will he go after superannuation.
However, the trainer thinks that Denman will join the hunt of Barber’s daughter-in-law.
Nevertheless, he will not rely on this option solely for the gelding, who has earned him a lot of honour, rather he aims to send him to some other comfortable place where he can enjoy his post-retirement life.
While speaking to the media today, Nicholls said:
“Paul and I haven't made much of a plan and we'll probably decide in the summer. It was quite a bad leg injury and I imagine both he and Master Minded (the dual Champion Chaser who seriously hurt himself in the King George) will have a year off first.”
He added:
“There's plenty of time left for him to do something else and Paul's daughter-in-law is the master of a local hunt, so hunting is an option for him. What people forget is that it's very difficult for a horse going from a five-star hotel to just being
out in a field and it isn't always easy to put horses into other jobs.”
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