- This topic has 2,377 replies, 90 voices, and was last updated 7 hours, 40 minutes ago by
.
- Posts
What an absolute nonsense thing to say by Henderson. The hurdles are there and need to be jumped. It’s like saying Majborough has only been beaten by those pesky fences. C hill put up a couple of stunning performances but as of late isn’t the same horse as a couple of years ago. Listening to the itv team all totally convinced he would win easily totally ignoring the fact that he’s nowhere near his form of 2 years ago. It looks to me like he is now under pressure in races and his jumping isn’t up to it.
Folk need to accept he is unlikely to return to his form of a couple of seasons ago and while he will obviously be in with a shout in any top race he hasn’t got that huge margin for error he used to have.
We all love to see exceptional horses but we might have to accept c hill isn’t the same horse. Maybe he will exceptional at punchestown but can you really see it. Stranger things have happened but Henderson needs to stop just thinking its all going to be great when something clearly is amiss.Agree with the above two comments. The game is called “jump racing”. You win nothing if you can’t jump.
It is a pity. He could have been an all time great. But his trainer chose to wrap him up in cotton wool, then he developed issues which kept him off the track and now his jumping has become suspect and he has lost some tactical speed as well.
His jumping was a bit odd even before he fell. I was standing near the last hurdle and he must have cleared it by about two foot. Simon Holt mentioned in commentary that he jumped it big. It looks like his confidence has gone.
I’ll be honest I’ve found myself disliking CH which is a shame and its not his fault its because I don’t like people doing these greatest of all time comparisons (mostly the TV folk to be fair rather than here). I don’t like his trainer being a big girls blouse with his campaigning of some of his horses in recent years including CH and his jockey comes across as a sore loser a lot of the time. I hate hysteria in sport generally. He was a very good horse in his pomp but I don’t think he’s anywhere near those levels now. Where he ranks in the all time greats I don’t know I’m too young to have seen some of them and I’ll be dead when something better comes along probably so does it really matter
sorry probably a bit ranty
6/1 for next year’s Champion Hurdle. Anyone lumped on? Thought not.
Maybe Henderson could ask Cheltenham if the race could be run as a racecourse gallop without those pesky hurdles instead.
“His jockey comes across as a sore loser a lot of the time.”
Yes, he does. His silly excuse about Jonbon and the starting tape at Cheltenham was a particular low point.
I saw the RTV wrap up today in which Messrs Luck, Dixon and Barber all had to admit Lossiemouth had got first run. Of course, none of them saw fit to criticise the ride De Boinville produced, getting his horse boxed in and allowing Townend to stitch him up. I have just watched the replay and it is shockingly poor by De Boinville.
Astralcharmer: I keep thinking about those new white hurdles, too ( I know it’s been discussed at length on here). They may be safer overall but I can’t help but feel his style of jumping isn’t suited to them.
He’s been wrapped in cotton wool too long . That being said he is lucky to walk away from those two falls at pace , I think this is a time to stop , re look at the whole situation and try rebuild the horse as at the moment I can see him running straight through a hurdle in Ireland as they will pressure him right up there .
Would a confidence booster in an open aged flat maiden do him good ? , or will it just make him more accident prone , it’s another angle . Didnt Desert Orchid go round in Sagaro Stakes once , or am I dreaming or thinking of another horse .Ive just had look racing post headlines .
According to Henderson , hes the best jumper , and nobody has beaten him except a hurdle . Quite frankly thats wonky thinking .
I think jockey, owner and trainer need tp step back and have good think about it all . He is not best jumper , and a novice jumper at Plumpton with FF in his two runs is not unbeaten or a good jumper !!!With the virus last season Henderson had a valid excuse for a poor return , no virus this season and the reason for the poor return is Henderson , he’s done , he’s a bad a great career but when the bottle and energy go its time to step aside …
This place used to be known for its “intelligent conversation”.
Where has it gone?So Constitution Hill is “not a great”, because he’s not shown the form recently.
Nor has Istabraq. Nor has Night Nurse. Nor has Arkle.Nobody is saying The Hill has done anything this season to represent greatness.
The horse has had several things wrong with him since showing that greatness, so surely deserves some better words.For some people greatness will only be achieved by the amount of victories.
That’s fine. But if that is the case then what you are effectively saying is:a) It will be possible for a “Great” racehorse to run to its ABSOLUTE BEST and yet still be beaten by a horse who is not even in consideration for being another Great.
And…
b) A horse can achieve greatness by having the EXACT same ability as a non-great, just that it has been LUCKY to live in an era with substandard horses. It being easier to run up a sequence of Grade 1 races if its rivals are substandard.
a and b are the reasons why – for me – I will always judge greatness on the level of form ratings shown at the horse’s best.
It may also be worth noting that most of Racing’s “Greats” have only shown that greatness once or twice in their careers. Yes, they may (as The Hill has) won many of their Grade 1’s without needing to produce their bests and / or not been pushed by their jockeys to go clear and record a “great” performance.
One of the biggest things that made Constitution Hill capable of such great performances was his hurdling technique. It was the best technique I have ever seen on any hurdler… At least in as much as – without that bold and pinpoint accurate jumping (gaining lengths at his obstacles)… He would not have run to such enormous ratings seldom / if ever seen as a novice in the Supreme and then in a Champion Hurdle. However, that very reason he was so great itself means that if and when he ever got it only slightly wrong it could lead to a fall… And if a horse falls once it can blot its confidence… Which can lead to a less impressive technique and even more mistakes and falls. This seems to have happened with Constitution Hill. Indeed, that lesser confidence may have begun with a fright in the International or even at the final flight mistake in his Champion Hurdle. Of course, had The Hill not had that original exceptional jumping technique he may have won even more Grade 1’s, because getting it just slightly wrong has led to non-finishes. But without it he would not have been capable of those great performances.
I am just glad that I was able to watch two absolutely Great performances by this horse… And once a Great always a Great in my eyes. The vast majority of National Hunt horses retire after they are no longer at their best. So I don’t know why the vitriol about a horse who has produced great performances and is still… Yet to retire because he’s still capable of showing excellent form… And maybe… And no stronger than “maybe”… One day Constitution Hill might recapture confidence and form to show that greatness again.
Value Is Everything“Didn’t Desert Orchid go round in the Sagaro Stakes once, or am I dreaming or thinking of another horse.”
Desert Orchid did indeed HCMW, and I also recall Morley Street embarking on a late Flat career that included coming second in the Doncaster Cup.
I believe that giving Constitution Hill a spin on the Flat would be worth a try, be it as a confidence booster or more. When I put forward this idea on another thread earlier, some posters felt he was too old or that it would be a humiliation given the lofty aspirations that were held for him.
He’s still lightly raced though, and plenty of horses have performed at a very high level on the Flat at more advanced ages. Connections might have to swallow their pride, but I think that ship should have set sail already.
I know some people would like to see Constitution Hill retired now, but he has lit up racing like few other horses in recent years. As long as he remains fit and well, I would like to see him continue to race even if his career path doesn’t follow its originally expected trajectory.
I think you make a lot of good points above GT.
As someone who did not get too involved with the Constitution Hill hype originally, it is quite strange to now find myself defending him as a great. But I think his best performances merit that title.
Istabraq fell for the first time when he was an eight year old then fell again a couple of races later. And Moscow Flyer only won when he stood up: he fell or unseated quite a few times. I hadn’t realised that CH had had a wind op on top of everything else that’s happened to him over the past year. I’m just relieved that he got up today; I really feared the worst and can’t say I enjoyed much about the rest of the days racing afterwards.
Watching it again, he didn’t have the tactical speed to get out of the pocket. I don’t recall Faugheen or A Power ever being bottled up like that
“I am just glad that I was able to watch two absolutely Great performances by this horse… “
Just the two?
Did you miss his absolute demolitions of six-time Grade One winner Epatante at Newcastle and Kempton?
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.