Sir Gino could return home to the Seven Burrows next week after suffering an injury on Trial Day at Cheltenham, Nicky Henderson has told Ski Sports Racing.
The six-year-old star jumped from three to jump in the Unibet Hurdle at Prestbury Park, with vets reporting the Donnelly-owned horse lame on his hind legs after the race.
Speaking with Ski Sports Racingthe Lambourn trainer said: “He’s doing well. I’ve spoken to (the hospital) again and have been getting updates all day and night which is great. They had another comfortable night and he’s bearing weight on that back leg which is very good news.”
He added: “Hopefully they can get him into an ambulance and get him back to Seven Burroughs sometime next week.”
Sir Gino spent a year on the sidelines for most of 2025 after contracting the bug, and Henderson says the prognosis for his latest ailment will be unclear for some time, commenting: “I think they say you won’t know the full extent of it for three or four months.”
Henderson also addressed the social media firestorm overnight involving one of his most beloved retired stars, Sprinter Sakro.
The now 20-year-old, who famously returned to his former glory in the 2016 Champion Chase under Nick de Boinville, was the subject of a GoFundMe appeal seeking contributions totaling £5,000 for vet fees, set up by his current carer Vicki Roberts.
Henderson said Ski Sports Racing: “It all got pretty ridiculously out of hand to be honest. He went to our vet’s surgery. I spoke to them yesterday, they explained what we needed to do and asked them to send the bill to Seven Barrows.”
Nicky Henderson and Sprinter Sakre
“I didn’t realize what was going on until the middle of last night because I wasn’t home. It was done, it’s a very simple procedure. There’s a very small piece that they want to remove on the inside of his splint. It’s a minor, minor problem.
“I told them to send me a bill yesterday and it would come to me on a monthly basis. They said he’d be all right in three weeks if he hadn’t had surgery. He’s fine, everybody’s fine. I didn’t know anything about this thing until the middle of the night.
The 75-year-old added that he wanted any non-refundable donations raised to be sent to horse charity Racing Welfare.