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Pathetic…. Just overrated shouldn’t even go for the Fighting Fifth or Christmas Hurdle. State Man a true and consistent performer.
Jumped the first like it was a fence and was travelling ok until the 2nd last where he was out to the left and then cut out immediately after.
He was top class from January 2022 to March 2023. But he hasn’t been since then.
He produced one incredible performance which entitles him to be considered great. But he lacks the longevity of the true greats.
I suppose some will say he should have made the running. But he wouldn’t have won no matter how he was ridden and his jumping was poor for the most part.
Does anyone still think he would have beaten Lossiemouth at Aintree now?
It is a pity because he could have been an all time great. But he hasn’t recovered from his issues. I also believe he was not well served in his early career by a trainer who took a far too cautious approach.
Don’t think he would have finished ahead of Lossiemouth. That horse was just quickening when it came to the final flight.
Maybe they should have taken the novice chasing route after his first CH win. He just isn’t fast enough for hurdles against decent 2 milers and forget that Flat engagement as well. It won’t happen…. How?
Agree ERL. But I said he was beaten at the time he fell at Aintree and got criticised for saying it (not by you).
He lost his position, partly because De Boinville got home boxed in but also because he doesn’t have the tactical speed now.
What’s the excuse today then?
I think the excuse is from 12+ months ago where CH had major issues which he has not recovered from. There is a slight chance that he could regain his former glories as he is still only 8. It took Sprinter Sacre over 12 months to get over his issues to return to very near his best.
Maybe a thought about going over fences now. He looks as though he has become sloppy over the smaller obstacles and the bigger obstacle may concentrate his mind more.
“Agree ERL. But I said he was beaten at the time he fell at Aintree and got criticised for saying it (not by you).”
I know, I even thought he was under pressure at that stage. Got the same criticism on this forum.
If The Hill had suffered a fatal fall Ex-Ruby would be telling us he told us the horse was over-rated.
The Hill has had several things wrong with him since his brilliance, Ruby.
Get over it.
This confirmation bias of yours is stupid.CH seemed to run with his head high today.
Hope he’s ok.Value Is EverythingThat’s such a stupid comment about him taking a fatal fall. A lot of people over here share the same opinion. Maybe Timeform doesn’t, but who cares?
It’s been a comedy of errors from the get go with Henderson this season.
He didn’t prepare the horse properly for the Fighting Fifth. Ended up getting slaughtered in a gallop by Sir Gino when so clearly overweight.
He then misses the Fighting Fifth and Henderson begins the process of almost bottoming the horse out when trying to get him fit enough in time for a Christmas clash with Lossiemouth. He admitted himself immediately afterwards that he had to push the horse awful hard to get him ready.
That’s terrible training and never should have occurred as the horse should’ve been race fit as early as mid November.I’m not a fan of the Cheltenham Trials day meeting and de Boinville made a complete mess of that.
He then falls in the Champion Hurdle, should be prepared for Punchestown but as Nicky the coward wants to avoid that at all costs, decides to run at Aintree. Obviously praying for a win so that he can avoid Ireland. With such a short gap after Cheltenham to recover from a fall and being a doubtful stayer anyway, he had no business being there.
The people who thought he was beaten when falling were correct.In hindsight, I don’t think he’d have beaten State Man in the Champion Hurdle either as the latter looked like an absolute machine that day and came so close to putting in the greatest performance of his career.
Henderson is completely finished and has ruined the careers of 2 of the best horses I’ve ever seen in Constitution Hill and Shishkin.
I still think Constitution Hill in his prime is the best 2m hurdler I’ve seen. To do what he did to the likes of Jonbon, Epatante, State Man and Vauban was breathtaking.
His Cheltenham Track record will stand for a long time imo and he achieved it at a canter.
The only view you can really hope to take from this ‘performance’ is that he simply hasn’t gotten over hitting the deck in consecutive races prior to this one – think they will give him a full summer break and then rock up to Newcastle for the Fighting Fifth and see what happens.
No way they should send him chasing because if he repeats his hurdling technique over fences and ends up having the same type of fall, he is liable to kill himself. The flat option I think now will also be firmly off the table as they will likely want to send him out into a field for the whole summer.
I don’t quite agree with the lacks tactical speed theory as he got into the position he did at Aintree simply because his jockey got out manoeuvred and boxed in and he was still in touch and only being nudged along going into the flight he fell at so I think that wasn’t conclusive of him lacking tactical speed.
He doesn’t seem to have the ‘Constitution’ part of his name unlike the tough as teak State Man who I doubt in some sections still won’t get the full recognition he truly deserves.
“That’s such a stupid comment about him taking a fatal fall. A lot of people over here share the same opinion. Maybe Timeform doesn’t, but who cares”?
Over where?
Value Is EverythingAfter his Champion Hurdle win I stated at the time he should go straight over fences and be aimed at the Champion Chase in his novice season. From there onto the Gold Cup season following.
It might not have worked out but nor has keeping him over hurdles. Running in an Irish point at 4 meant he probably had a limited lifespan to achieve as much as he could.
This is what Henrietta thinks about him. He’s far from a fluent or natural jumper. Never has been:
Henrietta Knight, Gold Cup-winning trainer
I think it’s basically a lack of concentration and he needs to have a bit more respect for what he’s doing. It’s challenging because it’s his style of jumping. He jumps into his hurdles with his toes out, doesn’t bend his knees as much as a lot of them, and there’s always going to be the chance of falling.
He did the same at the final fence in his point-to-point. I don’t think he’s the sort of horse if you jump him loose he’ll necessarily improve any more. It needs to be in the heat of a race and he just needs to be a bit more accurate. I remember when he won the Champion Hurdle I was down at the last and he only just skimmed it there. A couple of centimetres lower and he probably would have fallen that day.
If you watch that “schooling session” from last weekend again, you’ll see it only takes him 17 seconds to canter over the first four baby fences. He jumped eight in total, you can’t call that schooling, if he’s finished in less than a minute and does it all by himself with no pressure at all.
It’s possible The Hill might be over-rated, but not by the amount you believe Ruby. That’s just daft…
And you say “just overrated” as if today proved the horse has always been overrated. Please explain. Are you saying today’s performance is as good as Constitution Hill has ever put up? Are Kargese and Golden Ace also better racehorses?
Judging Constitution Hill’s career on today and /or his two falls this year is as crazy as judging State Man on his being beaten 31 lengths by Brighterdaysahead, or only beating Daddy Long Legs 6 1/2 lengths prior to having cheek pieces applied at Cheltenham this season.
Horses are not machines.
Value Is Everything
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