Pentland Hills won the 2019 race on just his second start for Nicky Henderson in the hands of Nico de Boinville, giving Henderson a record seventh success in the race.
The race has somewhat become dominated by three figures within the national hunt scene, owner JP McManus, trainer Nicky Henderson and jockey Barry Geraghty.
Geraghty, who is McManus’ retained rider has won the race more than other jockey, successful five times, most recently in 2016. The five horses Geraghty has ridden to victory in the race are as followed:
Barry Geraghty:
Spectroscope (2003)
Zaynar (2009)
Soldatino (2010)
Peace And Co (2015)
Ivanovich Gorbatov (2016)
Three of Geraghty’s successes have come for Nicky Henderson, in the JP McManus colours however Henderson has had plenty more, with this first success coming in 1985 and then was quickly followed by victory in the 1987 race.
His seven victories mean he is the outright most successful trainer in the race and has achieved the success with the following horses:
Nicky Henderson:
First Bout (1985)
Alone Success (1987)
Katarino (1999)
Zaynar (2009)
Soldatino (2010)
Peace And Co (2015)
Pentland Hills (2019)
The Triumph can always spring a surprise because juvenile form is so hard to really predict. The 2020 race will be no different however it won’t be a surprise to see JP McManus owned horse towards the top of the betting and that should command respect, especially if it is trained by Nicky Henderson and ridden by Barry Gergahty. Even if not, Henderson alone should be noted if he chooses to run anything.