‘Non-runner’ Binocular wins Champion Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival

• Tony McCoy ebullient after mount beats Khyber Kim • Nicky Henderson equals training record with fifth win Successfully transformed from non-runner to winner in the space of less than a month, Binocular (9-1) took the Champion Hurdle under Tony McCoy at the Festival here. Four weeks ago, a muscle problem was said to have been identified which would keep him out of the race but, after the six-year-old schooled well at Nicky Henderson’s Lambourn yard last Wednesday, the decision was taken that he would run after all. Blinkered for the first time, Celestial Halo set the early pace, stalked by Binocular’s stablemate Zaynar.

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