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Supreme favourite will have plenty of entries

Nicky Henderson remains keen to give Angels Breath another outing ahead of a likely tilt at the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle at Cheltenham.

The Seven Barrows dogs have been barking the five-year-old’s name for some time and an impressive debut under rules in the Kennel Gate at Ascot in December saw him shoot to the head of ante-posts lists for the traditional curtain-raiser at Prestbury Park next month.

He has not been seen in competitive action since – having been denied an intended appearance in last week’s Sidney Banks Memorial Novices’ Hurdle at Huntingdon due to the sport’s enforced shutdown over of equine influenza.

Speaking at Sandown on Friday, Henderson aid: “I’m stuffing him full of entries over the next week. I would rather run him in a little novice hurdle and get him dropped in behind some other horses than fuss about a Dovecote (at Kempton, February 23), but he might well finish up there.”

The Lambourn maestro is also keen to give last-time-out Ascot winner Downtown Getaway more experience ahead of the Festival – but it appears less likely his exciting novice chaser Santini will run ahead before the showpiece meeting.

The latter was due to run in the Reynoldstown Novices’ Chase at Ascot on Saturday, but was unable to take up his engagements due to the new vaccination protocols that have been put in place by the British Horseracing Authority.

Henderson added: “There is one (other) horse I want to get a run into and that is Downtown Getaway as I would have liked to run him in the three-mile novice hurdle at Haydock on Saturday.

“Whether I run Santini again I don’t knowm as I think it is getting a bit too close to Cheltenham.”