Constitution Hill - Horse Profile & Next Race Odds

Nicky Henderson (17 February 2025): "It didn’t start that well in that we had to miss the Fighting Fifth, but everything has been great since. He came back in the Christmas Hurdle, and we thought that if there was ever a time he would be beaten it would be then. I hated Cheltenham the other day as it nearly killed me. We went into Kempton thinking we half could be beaten and then we would be fine for March. He was good at Kempton, but Cheltenham was a no-win situation. If he did something, which as it turned out he did, so Cheltenham was a lot more pressure, but he did win and, apart from smashing through the last, he did it very well. We walked away from Kempton thinking we didn’t have to run him again before March, but he came back a week later and was so well in himself and he looked fantastic. I suspect I surprised everybody when we ran him at Cheltenham. We have three weeks to go, and his work is still the same and he looks in great shape. Nico will have a sit on him in the week and we will see where he is and how he feels. I suppose he will have to jump a hurdle at some stage just to eliminate that memory of that last hurdle. I don’t know what he did really as I have watched the replay a few times and it’s hard to work out exactly what he did. There should be plenty of pace in the Champion Hurdle if Brighterdaysahead goes in the race and the one good thing is that Constitution Hill can travel off any pace. He can travel at a very high pace, and he has bags of pace. In the Champion Hurdle two years ago, he did something similar at the last and a lot of horses would have fallen the other day, but he found a leg and galloped off as he was still a fresh horse, but I’d rather he didn’t do it again."

Nicky Henderson (15 October 2024): "His season was fraught with disaster as the Fighting Fifth at Newcastle was abandoned and we had to wait for the Christmas Hurdle at Kempton which he won in style. The Unibet Hurdle at Cheltenham in January had been the next intended run, but he scoped badly and had to miss the race and then his usual pre-Cheltenham Festival gallop at Kempton went badly wrong. There was further sting in the tail when he suffered a bout of colic shortly before he was due to go to Aintree and he was put away for the season. He also has had a wind operation, and I hope that we are back in tip top shape now. The Fighting Fifth will, once again, be his target and let’s hope we have an uninterrupted run, and he gets back where he belongs."

Nicky Henderson (22 February 2024): "As you know with him, nothing worries him and he would even run on Friday 13th if he had too. He is in very good shape, and I would be very happy is in the same shape as this time last year. He was ready at Christmas as he should have gone to Newcastle, so he was very well prepped for the Christmas Hurdle. I would like to have one away day and that will do it. His mind is always good and his weight's good and I think he was exceptional in his work last Saturday. It was pretty misty, but he was moving beautifully, and the ground was beautiful. He is very professional and that is the secret to him. He has the same attitude as when he first started and is just so laid back, you could wake him up and he just comes alive for you and is so easy. We are going to find out one way another if he is as good a Champion Hurdler as I ever had, and the one thing they all had in common is their ability to jump a hurdle. He as fast as you have seen a horse jump a hurdle and he is as good at that as See You Then who came from the dark ages. Buveur D’Air and Epatante, they were all electric over their hurdles and Constitution Hill is just so fast and low and deadly accurate. He has to be accurate and going to the last at Cheltenham 12 months ago not many horses would not have survived that error, but he was such a fresh horse and wasn’t remotely tired and halfway through you could see him put himself right. He is the ultimate professional and you can do anything with him, if they want to go fast fine and if they go very slow then we might go on. You don’t need pacemakers for him or anything for him and if I gallop him, he can gallop on his own, he doesn’t need others. We had to give him three weeks off, but his scope was only two out of 10 but you can’t ignore it and think we might get away with it but if you start doing that you start playing with fire. There is an element of pressure, and you feel nervous, but responsibility comes into it and he is the Special One at the moment and long may it last, all good things come to an end and Altior won 19 races before his run came to an end. We have beaten State Man once and let’s hope we can do it again. "

Nicky Henderson (11 October 2023): "It has been well documented that we are staying over hurdles this season with the aim to retain his Unibet Champion Hurdle crown. I am pretty sure we have made the right decision as both Michael, myself and Nico all know that with his speed and pace that he is unlikely that he would stay extreme distance at this stage of his career. The plan would probably be the Fighting Fifth again, the Christmas Hurdle and then the Unibet International Hurdle which has been switched to Trials Day at Cheltenham in January. It will then be the Champion Hurdle and, all being well, either Aintree or Punchestown. He is a wonderful horse, and it would be fantastic if he could go and do it all again."

Nicky Henderson (11 April 2023): "He’s fine and he has obviously done everything we have asked of him in exemplary fashion so far. I don’t think he will have any problem stepping up in trip and he has come out of the Champion Hurdle in fine form."

Nicky Henderson (13 February 2023): "He is fine, and everything is fine - he worked on Saturday, and we have a few more bits of work to do. He will probably have an awayday and go to Kempton - I would be thinking Newbury but the ground is just too quick at the moment anyway. Unless the weather changes dramatically we will go to Kempton, and I would like him to have a gallop. He’s been around the track and has broken records and you would have to say he’s done most things and he hasn’t done anything wrong but there is plenty that could go wrong and that’s the biggest issue. You know between now and the next four weeks something will be out, and you just have to keep your fingers crossed. “ It would be wonderful to win the Champion Hurdle for Michael Buckley we have been together a long time and we have had many highs and lows and a lot of good horse but also some horrible luck on the way. I thought Spirit Son was going to be a world beater and he sadly died from an accident while he was on holiday, so various things have gone right and wrong. We’ve had some wonderful times with the likes of Finian's Rainbow and Brain Power, but this is an extraordinary animal. His greatest asset is his head – not that it’s the prettiest – but his whole mind game is brilliant. Not even you guys could frighten him! You could go three miles with him as you just put him to sleep and wake until it is the right moment. Nico knows where the button is and when to press it and it works. It really is as simple as that. He could eventually go over fences and when you look back to win Altior won the Supreme and Buveur D’Air was third and we sat down and thought what to do and I sat down with Pat Hughes and said you will win the Champion Hurdle if you stay over hurdles but it will be too late to go chasing with him another year. We schooled him over fences and there was no doubt he was a chaser. At the same time Buveur D’Air went chasing and he didn’t find it easy - he was hurdling fences and that’s all it takes. We switched it around and put Buveur D’Air over hurdles and he wins two Champion Hurdles. Constitution Hill you can go chasing you can go two and a half miles and why wouldn’t you go three - you can go as far as you like. We will see and you would like to think that if everything went right you would go from Cheltenham to Aintree. "

Nicky Henderson (07 October 2022): "It was amazing what he did last season, and we just pray it wasn’t a dream and he comes back as good as ever. I hesitate to say better because how can he be? As longs as he is as good as he was that would appear to be enough. We will look at the Ascot Hurdle for him and the two mile and three and a bit is not going to worry him. It will be either that or the Fighting Fifth at Newcastle and the Christmas Hurdle at Kempton. After that we would look at something like the Contenders Hurdle at Sandown or the Kingwell at Wincanton which I like before the Champion Hurdle at Cheltenham. He’s a great big chaser and could go over fences tomorrow but he has such an engine and mind that you can do anything with him."