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Think this could be a case of owner/trainer difference of opinion re his future – get the impression owner wants to go GC route, whilst the trainer can no doubt envison winning multiple Champion Hurdles with him.
Personally, if he remains in this kind of form I don’t think him sticking to hurdling will see him face his ultimate test……that looks like it would be found over the bigger obstacles with a possible clash against GDC but that will assume a great many things that could go wrong between now and then won’t actually go wrong.
When a horse is so brilliant at one thing why would you ask him to do something else?
If he does go chasing he is going to spend a whole season beating up novices. What a waste!
Hordes of racing media, who bestow the title “superstar” on horses so often they’re slow to realise when a real one comes along, trying to tell connections what they should do.
Ditto loads of people on social media.
Tbh, I hope not a blind bit of notice of them is taken – it’s always the same endless call to push a horse to new tests until it’s beaten, anyway.
I wouldn’t blame connections if they stay hurdling and simply try to win as many Champion Hurdles as they can.
The day the horse is too slow to win a Champion Hurdle any more is the day to try chasing over further.
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It's the "Millwall FC" of Point broadcasts: "No One Likes Us - We Don't Care"Only 4 runs this year, and three of them strolls; Punchestown would be an obvious target to cement his legacy
I could swear no one ever talked about “legacy” in Night Nurse’s day – horses just ran where, when and how often it suited connections to run them.
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It's the "Millwall FC" of Point broadcasts: "No One Likes Us - We Don't Care"Horses aren’t trying to beat him , the race today was for 2nd , I’m 45 and never seen a horse so superior to the opposition
Pick 3 on Saturday champion 2025/2026
How often did Night Nurse run the year he won his two Champion Hurdles? Serious question, can’t find it on google
I can’t recall, but I’m sure it was plenty – saw him myself at Doncaster in 1978 after he’d been beaten in it – but the point is they only tried to turn him into a chaser once all the juice had been squeezed out of the hurdler orange.
Honestly, I have to laugh – how many of the media now sermonising about where Constitution Hill should run next put the mortgage on him for the Champion at the 3s after he won the Supreme?
Now they’re not only trying to climb aboard the bandwagon, they want to get hold of the reins and do the steering!
For me, whatever the horse does the rest of his life since March is a Brucey bonus.
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It's the "Millwall FC" of Point broadcasts: "No One Likes Us - We Don't Care"Here’s your man after the race today – the phrase superstar is trotted out all too often about horses but this is one case where it is justified. Best hurdler I’ve seen in the flesh without doubt (never saw Istabraq!)
Befair – This was all I could find on Night Nurse’s number of runs over hurdles
https://www.timeform.com/horse-racing/features/top-horses/greatest-racehorses-night-nurse-2352020
If Constitution Hill goes chasing next season, he should be aimed at the Ryanair, not the Marsh
I think a purely Novice season would be a waste of timeI’m not sure how much he had left yesterday and a three length victory of such inferior horses after that Cheltenham win reminds me of Sprinter Sacre winning the Melling less convincingly than the Champion Chase, then going to Punchestown and being all out…
I watched the replay this morning. I did not have a particularly good view of the finish from where I was standing yesterday.
I agree with the comments it was his least impressive performance. If anything it was slightly underwhelming. De Boinville did have to shake him up a bit.
He does not strike me as a horse that wants to go 3m 2f over fences anywhere. I would not be entirely confident about the Ryanair either. And why would they even want to win that race rather than another Champion Hurdle?
How many top class hurdlers have really gone on to become similarly top class over fences? Very few have been asked to recently. Faugheen was the only one that might have done – but would he have even gone over fences if he had stayed sound?
Win another Champion Hurdle with him looks like by far the best option.
Completely agree, CAS.
Night Nurse didn’t go chasing until after he’d finally got beaten in the Champion Hurdle – and while he was runner up to Little Owl in the 1981 Cheltenham Gold Cup, he was a great hurdler who was merely good to very good over fences.
By no stretch of the imagination could it be said Constitution Hill improved for the step up in trip yesterday.
Listen to your Uncle CAS and your Uncle Ian – after all, we got the 3s over a year ago while most were still on the fence – this horse can absolutely farm the Champion Hurdle the next few years.
You might find that repetitive and boring – Chasing? Why stop there? Maybe you’d like the horse sent to Oxbridge and get in a Boat Race crew? – but I wouldn’t.
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It's the "Millwall FC" of Point broadcasts: "No One Likes Us - We Don't Care"I’d been sanguine about sending him over fences; the GC is the ultimate prize, but agree that yesterday was his least impressive performance (Sharjah gave him 10 lengths at the start), so probably wiser to keep him over hurdles, if there are doubts about his stamina. The Champion Hurdle is a bigger prize than the 2MCC.
For an irreverent take, see “Chezza’s mate Roger” in the Lounge.
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It's the "Millwall FC" of Point broadcasts: "No One Likes Us - We Don't Care"
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