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Istabraq jumped similar as did buveur dair
Both came a cropper eventually
Hopefully that doesn’t happen to the hill
He was millimetres away from doing it at the last in the champion hurdle
Tom Segal: “There is one nagging doubt I have in the back of my mind in any case, and that is his bravery at his hurdles.
He has barely touched a twig to date and is as good a jumper as you will ever see, but on numerous occasions he has let rip at his hurdles from a long way off and one day he will land on top of one.”
CH wasn’t far off doing an Annie Power at the last in last year’s Champion Hurdle, his front legs barely cleared the top bar of the flight as the following picture shows. Even Nico commented: “I knew coming to it, ten strides out, we weren’t going to meet it right, I didn’t for the life of me think he was going to do that! Luckily, we were rolling forward and we had enough momentum that he could get up and out the other side.”
Very original thinking from old Pricewise there. “Constitution Hill wins, unless he falls”.
No ****, Sherlock.
https://www.racingpost.com/news/britain/we-dont-need-exhibitions-we-need-competition-david-elsworth-laments-campaigning-of-constitution-hill-a3n5P4W7fCoQ/
Elsworth hits the nail on the head. Why are connections so afraid of being beaten? Understandable on the flat where protecting stud value is the most important factor, but over jumps?
More understandable for staying chasers; Willie Mullins described it as v hard on a horse. But for 2-mile hurdlers?
Not just C Hill, of course, El fabiolo has only run once this yearHe does would have been great for CH to rock up in the Greatwood I would have taking far more pleasure in him winning that than these Graded trot arounds.
The things I want most in life are the things that I can't win.
It looks like Constitution Hill will go straight to the Champion Hurdle. If he does and then wins it in a canter, I hope connections then send him to Punchestown. If he goes to Aintree and has another canter around there, they will be open to accusations of playing it safe.
Must be very hard on a horse cruising around on the bridle in a couple of G1 prep races facing off against horses 20lbs+ your inferior until you run in the Championship event where your main rival is (gasp) only about 10lbs your inferior.
Unfortunately it is a sign of the times and because of trainers softly softly wrap them up in cotton wool approach, the horses are getting progressively less battle hardened to the point where they can really only take one or two hard races without a significant break……it is also not helped by race fixtures design to allow them to avoid each other like the plague until the big day and even then Cheltenham now offers various softer options.
I think it is why a lot of people keep harking back to the old days where G1 performers (outside of say a Champion Hurdle/Champion Chase/Gold Cup) had no real options than to run and carry big weights in handicaps….that were also prize money wise sometimes not far off (or equal to) the championship races.
Those days for the most part (given one or two exceptions) are long gone and it is arguable that it has been a change to the detriment of the competition aspect of the sport as a whole.
I think I’ll give Henderson a pass
Constitution Hill would have ran twice if Newcastle was to have beat the weather. It didn’t
It would have been the same path as last year.
No stud value and nothing to lose but unfortunately Cheltenham is the pinnacle and Henderson prepares him for that a year in advance.Blackbeard to conquer the World
Fitzy asked on ITV if Elsworth was correct and responded with a flat no, bound to wasn’t he.
The things I want most in life are the things that I can't win.
I was aware of DE’s thoughts as he made the same points when a guest speaker at a West Berkshire Racing Club do… When Best Mate was around.
Running them more often and in competitive races certainly writes their names firmly in punters hearts. David is responsible for many of my all-time favourites. On the flat as well as jumps. Desert Orchid, Persian Punch, Floyd. etc etc.
If Nicky isn’t careful it’ll harm the way punters think of The Hill in the future.
Value Is EverythingDoes it really matter what future punters think of The Hill?
I get frustrated when people talk about securing a horse’s legacy for the ‘sake of the horse’ and stuff of that ilk. The horse won’t give a jot what punters think of him. He won’t care if he’s lauded to the rooftops or forgotten tomorrow. Horses don’t care about the things we care about. They don’t care if they win or lose (albeit some might like to be at the front or in the middle of the herd – but that is not about ‘winning’). They don’t know if they’re racing in a Champion Hurdle or a selling hurdle.
Would you rather see him four times, trotting up unopposed but getting a niggle in the last race which kept him out of the Champion Hurdle.
Or would you rather see him once, at Cheltenham?Fitzy’s a waste of time isn’t he. At least Barry Geraghty and Ruby Walsh manage to say it as it is in their roles if one of their former employers horses run poorly or similar. Ruby was pretty critical about Allaho in the King George. Fitzy won’t say anything negative about Nicky or the horses.
Cormack regards Constitution Hill I think its fine him just rocking up at Cheltenahm if you’re an armchair punter, particularly a casual one but to actually get people in the door at Newcastle and Kempton etc when they run their ‘Grade 1s’ it really wants the reigning champion of the division. And considering he just cruises round on the bridle in his prep runs anyway the notion of him having a hard race is absurd. And Nicky’s got form for being over precious, no smoke without fire with him.
Next season he’ll run in the fighting fifth and Christmas hurdle before Cheltenham same as last season and would have been the same this season and it will happen the season after that.
Nicky’s job is to get the Champion Hurdle for this horse and will 4 times.
Is he responsible for getting people through the door? Not sure about that
The owners pick Nicky to train their horses and if they had a problem could always go elsewhere…
Blackbeard to conquer the World
“And considering he just cruises round on the bridle in his prep runs anyway”
It certainly isn’t Henderson’s fault that there aren’t any horses around that are good enough to compete with Constitution Hill.
I’ll actually revise what I said about Kempton and Newcastle because it turns out the Bula is a Grade 2 and I was mixing it up with the Christmas Hurdle which he did run in. I’ve been in person to witness the Fighting Fifth in the glory days of Irving and Identity Thief, there have been a few bad renewals of that so Constitution Hill is a bonus as far as that is concerned.
Cheltenham’s the problem isn’t it (again). Basically nobody outside of the die hard racing fans care about much else in the NH season and that probably includes a lot of the wealthier owners. All these podcasts etc about Cheltenham from October onwards. I enjoy both codes but you can easily tune out of the NH game until the DRF save for a week over Xmas and still know what’s going on regards Cheltenham whereas the flat is lots of mini-Cheltenhams month after month and if you miss even a week of racing you struggle to catch up.
TinMan – yes agree that horse’s such as CH appearing at a track are a draw and I personally enjoy seeing good horses, even in uncompetitive races. But neither Henderson or the owner have any obligation to run their horse just so that people can see him. They want to win that one race each year.
If we are looking for a solution here it’d be to find a way to ensure that these horses can’t afford to overlook a prize. And the answer to that is put up a purse they can’t ignore.The richer owners are quite happy to forego a £40 or £50k prize if it means they can arrive at Cheltenham on that first Tuesday with a live chance at what is rapidly becoming the only jumps meeting in this country that really matters – albeit Aintree’s National meeting is a valiant second, if distant.
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