Classic Winner Palladium Makes Successful Hurdles Debut

[Wandering Eyes]

Last year's G1 Deutsches Derby winner Palladium (Ger) (Gleneagles {Ire}) made a successful first appearance over hurdles at Huntingdon on Thursday in the colours of Lady Bamford.

Bought last October for €1.4 million at the Arqana Arc Sale, the four-year-old was switched from the stable of Henk Grewe to Nicky Henderson and was sent off as odds-on favourite under Nico de Boinville for his first run for 123 days.

Henderson, who also trains the hurdler First Street (GB) (Golden Horn {GB}) for Classic-winning owner-breeder Lady Bamford, said that he plans to return the colt to the Flat later in the year. 

He told Racing TV after the race, “There's obviously a certain amount of relief but you couldn't find a nicer colt in the world. He's got such a good temperament. When we started there it was obvious that he's got a great attitude to life, and that makes a big difference. 

“He's basically going to go Flat racing but his attitude to this was so good. He enjoyed his jumping. He's just really likeable.”

Henderson continued, “He's the only colt I have on the place and one is conscious that they want quite a bit more work than an ordinary gelding. We gave him a nice break when he came back and Nico said that there's a lot of improvement to come out of that.

“I think he wants to get his toe in to a certain degree, you wouldn't want it very quick. We'll have to think when the summer comes round as to where he'll go Flat racing.”

 

Palladium delivers in workmanlike fashion

German Derby winner
€1.4 million purchase
Successful start over flights @NdeBoinville | @sevenbarrows | @Huntingdon_Race pic.twitter.com/TxMNtdB4gV

— Racing TV (@RacingTV) January 23, 2025

 

Palladium is quoted at around 16/1 for the G1 Triumph Hurdle, which is sponsored by Lord Bamford's company JCB. Despite the longer-term aim of a Flat campaign, an appearance at the Cheltenham Festival has not been ruled out.

“Having got this far we might as well look at it,” said Henderson. “Our first take of that, Nico and I, is that another run would do him good, in which case it almost certainly means that the Adonis [Juvenile Hurdle] at Kempton is the place to go.

“We've done very little galloping with him and I was a little bit nervous, thinking 'Have we done enough?' I got Nico to sit on him on Monday just to see where we were. We've done lots of schooling but very little galloping and he had a good blow. We both think there's a lot more to come, his jumping was slick and he will have learned a lot all the way round today.”

 

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