Tetlami Pleases With Bumper Win

Nicky Henderson was amongst the higher profile trainers to take advantage of the hastily arranged ‘Jumpers Bumpers’ card at Kempton on Friday and was particularly pleased with the performance of his Tetlami, who justified odds-on favouritism to beat Hard To Swallow by a length-and-three-quarters, writes Elliot Slater.

Unbeaten in his two hurdles starts so far this term, Tetlami was in need of a run as Henderson brings the Susan Roy-owned gelding to a peak ahead of his bid for the opening race at the forthcoming Cheltenham Festival, the Supreme Novices Hurdle, for which the son of Daylami remains a solid 16/1 chance in the best ante-post Cheltenham odds for the feature two-mile novices event.

The winner of a listed bumper at Cheltenham last season, Tetlami made a winning start to his hurdles career when scoring in good fashion at Sandown in December then stepped up into better company to beat the very promising Vulcanite in a hot novices hurdle at Kempton Park on Boxing Day. Henderson had been keen to get at least one more outing into his charge and had been frustrated, (like so many other trainers at present), by the wintry weather, so eagerly took the chance to give the six-year-old a racecourse workout in the two-mile National Hunt Flat race.

Those that supported Tetlami at odds of 1/2 may have had a moment’s anxiety when Barry Geraghty appeared to be struggling to find a gap approaching the final furlong, but when it did come he quickened nicely to prove his wellbeing and appears ready now to take on the likes of Steps To Freedom, Darlan and Cinders And Ashes in what is building up to be a tremendous first race of the showcase four-day Cheltenham Festival meeting that gets underway on March 13.