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Prepping a kamakazi deathtrap of a racehorse on all weather at Southwell ,BHA needs heads read allowing entry off back of that . Madness .
Alan, on jumping, I heard Joel Parkinson on a Nick Luck podcast saying that is his main concentration with young horses above all, from 3 year-olds, teaching them to jump. He didn’t go deep into his methods, but touched on them. Seems a proper evangelist. I’ll be interested to see how far Konfusion can go.
Nathan 😂 at least constitution can still win something ie thread of the year and maybe a dual win 😂
Vf x
All things being equal at least we are likely to see him run in the Champion Hurdle now, had they chosen a prep run in a hurdle race then there surely is a very high chance that he would have fallen again in that race and then there would be no way he would have run in the Champion coming off the back of falling in four of his last five starts.
It will be very interesting to see the comments on this thread if he does end up winning a second Champion Hurdle off the back of a prep run in a Southwell Maiden. It would certainly make for a good question at a sports trivia night.
LD73, I definitely wouldn’t rule out that he could still win the Champion Hurdle. But the approach being taken is too big a risk for the horse and also for the image of the wider sport in my view.
Even if reckless gambles pay off occasionally, that still doesn’t mean they were a wise idea.
I’d say it’s less likely , Henderson could do a proper Cheltenham prep by running in an actual hurdle race , he hasn’t , instead were are getting a farce at Southwell
It will be some achievement if the horse wins the Champion Hurdle after having jumped only one hurdle properly this season.
Does Henderson really believe that is likely?
I think the Constitution Hill champion hurdle entry is ‘a bit of a red herring’ myself. If he’s in the final decs because Sir Gino is out I’ll believe it otherwise i’m not expecting it to happen.
The story of Constitution Hill trying flat racing broke into US racing media and made the dozens (dozens!) of US racing fans who know hurdling exists all go “wait what are you doing just retire him” simultaneously so congrats to Nicky I guess.
Find it a sorry state of affairs that we’re all transfixed on the progress ( or lack of it) of a horse that should really be (sad as it is) yesterdays news.
Its high risk for racing , something happens to him in CH the heat will be unreal on all concerned , horse that cannot jump warms up for jump race on flat as he is so dangerous then runs in biggest hurdle of year .
If i hear them say pre race ” we just want him home safe ” , they will be losing a grip of reality .It is the madest thing ive seen in racing and ive followed the sport daily for well over 40 years .People love a redemption arc in all walks of life especially when it envolves coming back from great adversity – many were calling for Sprinter to be retired after his heart issues and we all know how that turned out.
Granted that was a physical ailment that could be clearly diagnosed and treated but with CH it is very much harder to ascertain what the actual problem truly is, I still believe it is a mental block and that will be infinitely harder to solve (if you actually can) than a physical ailment and also to do it in a safe manner (as you won’t really know if it is solved until he goes hurdling again).
I am now of the opinion that they likely never will sort his issue out especially given he is now 9 and likely at the tail end of his hurdling career, history has also very much turned against him as only Royal Gait, Rooster Booster and Hurricane Fly in the last 75 years have won Champion Hurdles as 9 yr olds. If you write off this season and try again next year, the stats for a 10 year old are even worse as only two 10 yr olds in Champion Hurdle history have ever won the race (Hatton’s Grace ans Sea Pigeon).
Connections really need the Southwell race to go very well (he really probably needs to be winning it to) which could be a big ask because even if his general fitness is good, his race fitness must be a question mark and he will be facing a new experience of racing much faster than he is used to when jumping. If he doesn’t run well there, then surely Cheltenham is a complete non-starter and then they really could be looking at retirement simply due to the lack of any real viable alternatives.
If there turns out to be a bumper entry for the Southwell farce, could he be balloted out ?
Given they wouldn’t have to wait a lot longer for the turf flat season, the Champion Hurdle must still be the intention.
Not many horses got my pulse racing and adrenaline up, Frankel being one and Constitution Hill but when he runs now those reactions are for a completely different reason. I would love it if he rocked up in the Champion Hurdle and trounced them but it will be a hard watch.
The more I know the less I understand.
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