Tony McCoy pays tribute to brilliant Binocular as 2010 Champion Hurdler retires McCoy, who partnered the former French horse in 20 of his 22 races over hurdles, gave the most eloquent and relevant tribute to Binocular. He was the fastest to get from one side of a hurdle to the other that I've ever ridden, and I think only Make A Stand could even compare to him. Make A Stand, trained by Martin Pipe, blitzed his rivals in the 1997 Champion Hurdle in a style that stretched them to breaking point. So the comparison is a fitting one for the Nicky Henderson-trained Binocular, who can now look forward to a happy retirement at McManus's Martinstown Stud in Co Limerick. He had been resident at Henderson's Seven Barrows yard since 2007, winning 11 of his 22 races, and nearly £800,000 in prize money. Rock On Ruby, who was trained by Paul Nicholls when successful in the 2012 Champion Hurdle, has since been running in the name of Harry Fry, who actually prepared the gelding from a satellite yard for his winning title bid. Fry believes the time is right to try Rock On Ruby over fences, a decision no doubt influenced by the gelding's moderate showing against The New One at Kempton Park earlier in the season. The theory is correct - if he could not cope with the young pretender that early in the campaign, what chance would be have when the younger horse is more seasoned? Fry explained: "It's a change of plan from what we were looking at the start of the season, but we were obviously disappointed with his run behind The New One. If he can be even half as good over fences as hurdles, we'll be delighted. He seems to have taken well to the fences at home. Plumpton can be a tricky circuit for budding chasers, but also one that can educate a novice such as this tough jumper of hurdles. The New One and Zarkandar are both entered in Saturday's International Hurdle at Cheltenham (which was reopened), with Sam Twiston-Davies, The New One's jockey, saying: "He was very impressive at Kempton and he's progressed from it since."