Adonis Hurdle: Big guns clash at Kempton

Paul Nicholls & Nicky Henderson will do battle at Kempton.

Nicky Henderson and Paul Nicholls have used the Grade 2 Adonis Juvenile Hurdle to unearth a Triumph Hurdle winner in recent years and both are trying to bolster their squads again at Kempton on Saturday...

As has been the case in their battles all season, Britain's top two trainers are hard to separate in the Triumph Hurdle betting, with Henderson's Rolling Star and Nicholls' Far West prominent at this stage alongside Our Conor.

Of the last six runnings of the Adonis, Henderson has landed half with Triumph hero Soldatino and subsequent champion hurdlers Punjabi and Binocular, and this time he fields Vasco Du Ronceray and Courtesy Call.

The former scored on his British debut at Hereford before going down to Far West at Cheltenham and Kashmir Peak at Doncaster, while Courtesy Call makes his jumping bow.

A prolific middle-distance performer for Mark Johnston, he last ran off 86 when second in the Cesarewitch Trial at Newmarket.

"I want to get a run into them both, and they are both in the Triumph," said Henderson.

"Courtesy Call is a good horse and just I haven't been able to run him.

"He isn't very big but he jumps very well.

"He had a busy Flat campaign and has to have good ground, so there was no point in asking him to do anything in that (soft) ground."

Nicholls, whose Champion Hurdle hope Zarkandar collected the Adonis in 2011, saddles Irish Saint.

He has a course and distance victory to his name already but came off worst in basically a match with Rolling Star at Cheltenham.

"Irish Saint is a different type of horse to Far West, he's more of a chaser but he has got decent form," said Nicholls.

"The idea was to go Kempton and then Aintree but if he won and was impressive, then he could still go (to Cheltenham)."

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