Cheltenham Festival 2012: trainer Nicky Henderson on course for record-breaking week Henderson, 61, has always been one of jump racing's top trainers. Well connected and well trained by Fred Winter, from the outset he was rarely without a good horse in the yard and, within a decade of taking out his licence, in 1978, his reputation was established. By then he had guided the fragile See You Then to three Champion Hurdle victories contributing to his two trainers" championships in 1985-86 and 1986-87. However, See You Then and 1992 Champion chaser Remittance Man apart, he ticked along with some admittedly smart horses but without any real world beaters or household names. He notched up a respectable 60 or 70 winners a season but never looked likely to lift the Gold Cup, another Champion Hurdle or another Champion Chase. When he bought Seven Barrows in 1992 you even wondered how he might fill it but, four or five years ago, when many trainers of 30 years" standing might have been looking at a fast approaching sell-by date, Henderson's career took off again. Seven Barrows now bursts at the seams, horses crammed in every available corner. Last year he clocked his best tally yet of 153 winners and the tide in the trainers" championship is slowly but inexorably turning his way. It is almost inevitable he will regain his title at some stage in the next couple of years. It is no coincidence that both he and Paul Nicholls source their horses from the same Highflyer bloodstock agency of Anthony Bromley and Henderson's long-time friend, David Minton. "His success probably comes down to some extremely good owners who have upped their game and the standard of horse has improved," said Minton. But he has invested heavily in Seven Barrows, the all-weather gallop has been a huge success and he's hungrier than ever. I also think he's happier and more contented now than he's ever been. Since the outset, Henderson's training has been characterised by tunnel vision when it comes to the Festival, possibly subconsciously inspired by his father, Johnny, who, as head of Racecourse Holdings Trust, saved Cheltenham for racing. Henderson's seasons have never been measured by prize-money won or winners accrued - it has always been what went on in that third week of March and on no less than eight occasions he has been either top trainer at the meeting or shared it with someone else. Putting all his eggs into the Festival basket has proved a master strategy. It is now the universal measure of a season or career. Apart from all the other attributes, including the stamina to cope with the hectic social life of a top trainer, being the acknowledged Festival specialist, has helped him corner the market in well-heeled owners prepared to spend six-figure sums on their horses. He will still go to Ireland and take a punt on a 30,000 guineas store horse out of the field having the ability to match its looks a few years down the line. He still wins more than his fair share of bumpers but many of his owners now have the wherewithal to leap the queue, take a day trip to France or Ireland, buy a form horse with proven ability and cut out chance. Henderson's faithful long-standing owners such as Michael Buckley, the Hanburys, Judy Wilson and Robert Waley-Cohen have been swelled by other patrons with serious purchasing power including JP McManus, Richard Kelvin-Hughes, Dai Walters, Ronnie Bartlett, Caroline Mould, Simon Munir and Trevor Hemmings. "If you don't have the owners you're not going to get the best horses and you can't do it without the horses," points out Mick Fitzgerald, his former long-time stable jockey. Just look at Sir Henry Cecil - if you don't have the horses you've got no chance. Henderson, it seems, has the horses and many chances.