It is exactly a year to the day since we last saw the incredible Constitution Hill line up to continue to show us what he’s made of on a racecourse. That was when he won the Ladbrokes Christmas Hurdle at Kempton Park on Boxing Day.
And today, a whole 365 days later, we were once again treated to a display of his indomitable talent and will to win, when he took a record-breaking third Christmas Hurdle.
Constitution Hill, a seven-year-old owned by Michael Buckley, has been plagued with issues over the past 12 months. From ground concerns, a respiratory problem and then suspected colic, and, more recently, being a no-show in the Fighting Fifth following a very below par racecourse gallop at Newbury last month meant that prior to today he had only run five times over the past two years. It’s fair to say that he had his doubters in their droves that he would ever return to previous form, which includes seven Grade One victories, one of those being the 2023 Champion Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival.
But trainer Nicky Henderson silenced all of those doubters today when Constitution Hill swaggered to a comfortable victory in the Christmas Hurdle under Nico De Boinville – and the packed Kempton crowd reacted accordingly, knowing they had just witnessed one of horseracing’s all-time greats in action. His form figures under Rules now read nine from nine and he has over £800,ooo-worth of prize money to his name to boot.
“He felt fantastic – there’s still a bit of ring rustiness and he will improve for it. All the credit goes to the guv’nor,” said Nico, referring to Mr Henderson. “I’ve been very confident about him and he was back in business after a piece of work a fortnight ago.”
Mr Henderson said he intends to run Constitution Hill again before the Cheltenham Festival.
“Everybody has done all their parts in the jigsaw and it is a big squad – it’s been entertaining getting him back. There’s been a lot of things we’ve done differently – some of it’s gone well and others a bit of a struggle,” he explained. “The last three weeks have been very, very good – I’ve never seen him look better. We were unfortunate to miss the Fighting Fifth but at least we had one on the subs’ bench [referring to Sir Gino, who won for the yard].
“I’d love to run him again [before the Champion Hurdle] but if he says no, we’ll have to go straight there.
“It is great to see a crowd like this here today that appreciate good horses and that is what racing is all about.”
Prior to today’s Christmas Hurdle, the Willie Mullins trained Lossiemouth was the one to watch for many, and with her 7lb mares’ allowance, went off a close second favourite behind Constitution Hill. But she ultimately finished 2½ down in second under Paul Townend, who then went on to win the King George VI Chase 35 minutes later.
“It was disappointing,” said Paul of Lossiemouth’s run. “We were struggling way too early and I don’t know why. She ran okay, but we weren’t good enough on the day.
“You would always like to take them on again, but I’d like to find out why we underperformed here today first.”
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