Horse of a generation to stick to hurdles

One of the world’s greatest jumpers, the Nicky Henderson-trained Constitution Hill, will remain a hurdler. The horse, which won the Champion Hurdle at Cheltenham in March by no less than nine lengths, had been mooted as a potential Gold Cup horse. And indeed, many racing experts, not to mention bookmakers and punters alike, were weighing up the chances (and odds) of the six year old competing in the signature Gold Cup event. Indeed, intrepid bettors were already laying wagers on a number of UK horse racing betting sites that were offering the chance to back the legendary jumper. That chance is now gone. 

Rumours began circulating some time back that Constitution Hill, winner of all seven of the hurdles races he has entered, would have a crack at the larger obstacles of a steeplechase, and had even been warmed up for this event. Those rumours were further validated when owner Michael Buckley admitted that it was his dream for the gelding to emulate the legendary Dawn Run, the last horse to complete the double of the Champion Hurdle and the Cheltenham Gold Cup, 37 years ago. 

But the decision has now been made to keep Constitution Hill at hurdles. “After a lot of deliberating and a lot of advice from everybody in the world, because everybody wants a piece of this, he is going to stay over hurdles,” trainer Henderson has stated. But why? It seems the issue was not the fences in any case. “He would jump fences with his eyes shut, if we wanted him to,” Henderson added. 

But it seems the real reason the seven-time hurdle champion was not considered for steeplechasing was the distance. “The basis of the decision was we had to be 100 per cent sure that he would stay three and a quarter miles [in the Gold Cup],” Henderson confirmed. And it was a decision reached in joint agreement with the horse’s owner and jockey. “I dare say there will be plenty of people saying this is unimaginative, but there was no doubt in [jockey] Nico’s [De Boinville] mind, stamina was likely to be a major issue and the only point in doing it was if one felt he could become a Gold Cup horse,” the six-time British Champion Trainer added. 

So no tilt at the Gold Cup then, but the bookies will therefore be dashing the odds on the flyer claiming another Champion Hurdle at Cheltenham in 2024. The British-bred horse is widely acknowledged to be one of the greatest hurdlers of all time. His seven wins have come at an estimated aggregate distance of 89 lengths which is, frankly, quite incredible. And those wins have come in significant races too.  

Constitution Hill’s first notable success came in the January 2022 Grade 1 Tolworth Novices’ Hurdle at Sandown. That victory was soon followed up at the Cheltenham Festival by an impressive win in the Grade 1 Supreme Novices’ Hurdle. Later on that year the jumper claimed success in two more Grade 1s: at Newcastle in the Fighting Fifth Hurdle and in Kempton’s Christmas Hurdle. What a debut campaign that was. 

But Constitution Hill followed it up nicely in 2023 with a resounding success at the 2023 Cheltenham Festival in the prestigious Champion Hurdle, claiming the win with ease. With further success in the Grade 1 Aintree Hurdle, it is of little surprise that the horse is odds on favourite with the sports betting sites to claim success in the 2024 Cheltenham Champion Hurdle. There cannot have been many horses with shorter odds with the race still months away, that’s for sure. 

And so, why it may be steeplechasing’s loss, hurdles retains one of its greatest ever exponents. All eyes will be cast at Cheltenham in March to see if Constitution Hill can emulate his predecessor Honeysuckle, the winner in both 2021 and 2022. And then what? A shot at glory in going for a third-straight success and joining a list of names that currently reads Hatton’s Grace, Sir Ken, Persian War, See You Then and Istabraq. What a collection of horses to follow. And with the talent and catalogue of success that the six year old already possesses, we can’t rule it out.