'It's been a difficult ten days' - Persian Time a welcome winner for Nicky Henderson as trainer ponders recent stable form

After a taxing Cheltenham Festival Nicky Henderson enjoyed a welcome winner when Persian Time arrived on the nod under Nico de Boinville in the 2m2f novice handicap chase at Kempton.

Henderson had hoped to hit the target at the festival, but several of his string ran below par and whatever was affecting them meant he withdrew some headline names, including Jonbon, Shishkin and Sir Gino.

His team had already been weakened by the defection of stable star Constitution Hill, but Persian Time, his only runner of the day, showed no signs of being under the weather.

"It's extraordinary but there you go," he said. "Our horses always quite like Kempton, so maybe we should stick to here, but Cheltenham has been as lucky as anywhere over the last few years to be fair.

"It's been a difficult ten days because I think we knew before Cheltenham they weren't running to what you'd hope for. It is nice to close the week with a winner as we've nothing else on purpose, and we'll probably have hardly any runners next week.

"We'll just let the whole thing settle down and get to the bottom of whatever it is, and it's difficult to say it's ailing them. They seem to be well and everything checks out right, but they checked out wrong at the top of that hill at Cheltenham. 

Nicky Henderson: Persian Time broke trainer's recent lean spellCredit: Alan Crowhurst

Henderson, whose last winner before Persian Time was Spring Note at Newbury two weeks ago, added: "I think we need to take the whole thing apart and put it back piece by piece and see if there's a piece missing – there must be something missing. They've got to keep ticking over and I'd like to go quietly for one week and let the whole thing die down.

"Everybody has been incredibly helpful, which I really appreciate. We've just got to see if there's a piece of the jigsaw missing and I hope it's as simple as that, but it's not there in black and white, and normally with blood tests and scopes you can identify a problem. 

"There's no sign of an issue and I think the horses look well, while they seem to be well and their work is good, but they weren't performing at all at Cheltenham. In the end, you just don't run them and were scared to run.

"We'll be quiet next week, but can hopefully kick on to Aintree and Punchestown. There's a lot still to come and they'll come back, I'm sure. I've a wonderful team at home and am surrounded by great people – we'll get it back on track." 

Henderson, who will not have a runner until Friday at least, added: "I think everyone knows what Cheltenham is to nearly all of us. We've had wonderful years there, but were never going to get complacent, and we'll get it sorted."

Read these next:

Irish dominance 'damaging the sport' warns BHA chief Julie Harrington 

Triumph Hurdle favourite Sir Gino and Albert Bartlett hope Shanagh Bob ruled out of the Cheltenham Festival by Nicky Henderson 

Jonbon and Shishkin among big names taken out amid fears over health of Nicky Henderson string 

The Front Runner is our unmissable email newsletter available exclusively to Members' Club Ultimate subscribers. Chris Cook, the reigning Racing Writer of the Year, provides his take on the day's biggest stories and tips for the upcoming racing every morning from Monday to Friday. Not a Members' Club Ultimate subscriber? Click here to join today and also receive our Ultimate Daily emails plus our full range of fantastic website and newspaper content.