"We think he’ll be all right by Monday" - Sir Gino drifts in Arkle betting after missing Game Spirit

Everyone had been looking forward to seeing Sir Gino jump fences again at Newbury this weekend. Nicky Henderson's star thrashed Ballyburn to make a winning chasing debut at Kempton over Christmas, and had been set to tackle several classy older chasers in Saturday's Grade Two highlight.

Sadly, news broke on Friday morning that Sir Gino was injured. Nicky Henderson took to X immediately and confirmed that his budding stable star had suffered a superficial wound during a routine gallop.

"He was perfectly fine on Thursday and he came back from his exercise perfectly alright. He just had a bang on his hind leg in the evening, which is sore." Henderson revealed.

"We think, and hope, he’ll be all right by Monday, but there’s no race for him on Monday. He’s not going to be doing anything for 24 hours and he’ll be working on the water treadmill for a couple of days, and I hope he’ll be back in action. It’s what our vets think."

Henderson is desperate to get another run into Sir Gino before that highly anticipated clash with Majborough in the 2025 Arkle Challenge Trophy. Henderson's Fighting Fifth winner is illegible to run any any novices or beginners chase, with the Pendil Novices' Chase at Kempton on February 22nd looking the most likely target.

"As normal, this programme doesn’t allow for things like this to happen," Henderson continued. "It might force us to go two and a half miles, which I really don’t want to do. There is also a new two-mile chase at Bangor, but that’s after Kempton and it’s too close to Cheltenham. If you can’t run before March you can’t."

Bookmakers have been quick to react to Sir Gino's injury woes. Ladbrokes pulled the Arkle favourite back into 8/11 while also cutting the odds of Irish Arkle winner Majborough, and Dan Skelton's L'Eau Du Sud, who runs in the Kingmaker Novices' Chase on Saturday.

Cal Gildart of Ladbrokes said: “He’s still odds-on to win the Arkle, but Sir Gino’s injury has caused a stir in the market. There are going to be more than a few eyes on Warwick on Saturday to see whether L’Eau Du Sud maintains his unbeaten record.”