Stamina doubts key to decision as Nicky Henderson superstar Constitution Hill stays over hurdles

Constitution Hill, the superstar hurdler and most exciting name in jump racing whose connections have wrestled all summer with the possibility of sending him over fences, will instead remain over hurdles this season.

Owned by Michael Buckley and trained by Nicky Henderson, Constitution Hill swept all before him last season, when his four Grade 1 triumphs included the Unibet Champion Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival.

Buckley then raised the mouthwatering possibility of an attempt to emulate Dawn Run by becoming only the second horse to go on from Champion Hurdle success to victory in the Cheltenham Gold Cup.

However, Henderson revealed on Tuesday that those plans had been shelved, in part due to jockey Nico de Boinville questioning the horse's stamina for the Gold Cup, and Buckley was perhaps left regretting having been so forthcoming about his ambitions to emulate Dawn Run as he hit back at criticism of the decision not to be so adventurous after all.

Instead, Constitution Hill will again have the Champion Hurdle as his objective.

Henderson, who has won the race a record nine times, said: "He will stay over hurdles. It's not really about him schooling but our biggest decision was making up in our own minds whether he would stay three and a quarter miles and I know Nico felt pretty strongly that he wouldn't.

"You can look at it that if he can go around breaking track records over two miles over hurdles like he can, how in the world are you going to stay three and a quarter? And what's the point in switching to fences to run over two miles? There's nothing to be achieved, there's equal status and prestige in the Champion Hurdle as there is in the Champion Chase. The Gold Cup was the attraction."

Constitution Hill: superstar looked in great nick over the summerCredit: Edward Whitaker

Described as a "truly magnificent racehorse", Constitution Hill is set to follow a similar path to last term.

"There are four Grade 1s he can run in Britain over hurdles all being well and the plan will be the Fighting Fifth at Newcastle on December 2, which gives you a shorter window to the Christmas Hurdle at Kempton on Boxing Day, but that's the route," Henderson added.

"They've now moved the Unibet Hurdle, which was the International, to the end of January at Cheltenham, so that comes into it as well. It's a Grade 2, but you could go there, then to the festival for the Champion Hurdle, and then Aintree or Punchestown.

"That's the logical plan and there's no point deviating from it; it's what the Pattern says, but you need a good following wind with you and for everything to go to plan, which it has so far. He helps himself in that regard because of his temperament and I don't think we've ever missed a day with him.

"He's had a good summer – almost too good – but we've plenty of time to get him ready."

Constitution Hill's big targets in Britain

• Betfair Fighting Fifth Hurdle (Newcastle, Saturday, December 2, 2023)
• Ladbrokes Christmas Hurdle (Kempton, Tuesday, December 26, 2023)
• Unibet Hurdle (Cheltenham, Saturday, January 27, 2024)
• Unibet Champion Hurdle (Cheltenham, Tuesday, March 12, 2024)
• William Hill Aintree Hurdle (Aintree, Thursday, April 11, 2024)

Sourced by Henderson's former stable jockey Barry Geraghty as a youngster, Constitution Hill was laid-back when he joined the trainer but soon showed he boasted a rocket-like engine and the wider world saw that the day he made his debut at Sandown in December 2021.

That was followed by a first top-level success in Sandown's Tolworth Novices' Hurdle before the son of Blue Bresil delivered a devastating display in the Supreme Novices' Hurdle in March last year, tearing away from high-class stablemate Jonbon to win by 22 lengths.

He started last season in Newcastle's Fighting Fifth, which he won easily before Christmas Hurdle glory at Kempton.

His biggest test was set to be the Champion Hurdle against prolific Irish raider State Man, but the six-year-old saw him off in style and recorded a nine-length victory.

Constitution Hill: Fighting Fifth likely to be his first assignment of the seasonCredit: Edward Whitaker

He was last seen romping home in the Aintree Hurdle in April, although his performances were not enough to propel him to the level of hurdling greats Istabraq and Faugheen in the official end-of-season rankings, which had him on a perch of 175 – just 1lb below those superstars.

Blessed with a rock-solid temperament and yet to come off the bridle, Constitution Hill spent the summer at Hillwood Stud in Wiltshire and recently returned to Henderson's historic base on the edge of Lambourn to gear up for the core part of the 2023-24 jumps campaign.

He is 4-9 with sponsors Unibet for the Champion Hurdle and a best-priced 1-2.

Read more . . .

'The difference between a great and a legend' - how racing fans reacted to Constitution Hill decision 

Two miles over fences would have been such a thrill - but Constitution Hill gets to keep doing what he's great at 

Newcastle, Kempton and a Cheltenham pit-stop? The route Constitution Hill could take back to the Champion Hurdle   

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