Tag Archive for: Constitution Hill

Nico de Boinville says Constitution Hill ‘feeling a bit sorry for himself’

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Nico de Boinville paid Constitution Hill a visit on Tuesday and said the former champion hurdler is feeling “a bit sorry for himself”.

Nicky Henderson’s stable star has had no end of health trouble this season, scoping dirty in January and then being laid low with an infection which ruled him out of the defence of his Champion Hurdle title.

Just when connections had hoped for some light at the end of the tunnel and a possible run at Punchestown, he was then struck down by suspected colic and spent a few nights at the vets.

It was a relieved Henderson that informed everyone on Monday he was now back at Seven Barrows and De Boinville was keen to check in on him.

“Everyone has been kept in the loop. I went to see him this morning and hopefully he picks up in the next couple of weeks,” he told Racing TV.

“He’s certainly feeling a bit sorry for himself and I can see why.”

Henderson: It’s wonderful to have Constitution Hill home

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Constitution Hill is back at Nicky Henderson’s yard after a colic scare, with any thoughts of a trip to the Punchestown Festival now firmly ruled out.

The Seven Barrows handler announced on Sunday that his superstar hurdler had been taken to a veterinary hospital due a suspected colic on Wednesday night, describing it as a “few traumatic days” with the unbeaten gelding.

Henderson issued an upbeat bulletin on Monday with Constitution Hill returning to the Lambourn yard to continue his recovery, although the 2023 Champion Hurdle hero is in need of an extended period of rest.

That means a potential clash with last month’s Cheltenham victor State Man is now off the agenda until next term.

Nicky Henderson is pleased Constitution Hill is back at home
Nicky Henderson is pleased Constitution Hill is back at home (David Davies/PA)

In a statement posted on X, Henderson said: “Constitution Hill returned to Seven Barrows this morning and it is wonderful to have him home after what he has endured.

“He resumed normal feed yesterday with no further ill effects and had a nice pick of grass in the welcome sunshine.

“Hopefully this is all behind him now but I am afraid it is easy to see he had a difficult week and the reality is he is going to take some time to recover and put some weight back on again.

“Therefore our much anticipated match with State Man will have to wait until next season.”

Constitution Hill was an easy winner of the Christmas Hurdle
Constitution Hill was an easy winner of the Christmas Hurdle (John Walton/PA)

Constitution Hill has run just once this season after cold weather scuppered his initial planned return in the Fighting Fifth at Newcastle, with deep ground seeing him bypass the rescheduled event at Sandown.

He won the Christmas Hurdle at Kempton on Boxing Day in a canter, but an unsatisfactory scope saw him miss an intended Trials day run at Cheltenham before a respiratory infection ended his hopes of a Champion Hurdle defence last month.

The Fighting Fifth is pencilled in as a starting point for next season, though Henderson’s main priority remains Constitution Hill’s health.

He added: “As long as he is OK that is all that matters, but it has been a horrible few months since his great performance in the Christmas Hurdle. It is time for him to have a summer holiday now look forward to his return, hopefully in the Fighting Fifth.”

Constitution Hill in veterinary hospital to monitor suspected colic

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Constitution Hill has suffered a setback in his health, with trainer Nicky Henderson describing a “few traumatic days” due to suspected colic.

The unbeaten seven-year-old missed the defence of his Champion Hurdle crown earlier this month due to a respiratory infection but had been reported to be recovering well, with a trip to the Punchestown Festival a possibility.

However, that now appears unlikely with Constitution Hill having been in veterinary care since Wednesday night.

Henderson is hoping his star performer can soon return to Seven Barrows, although he says the gelding is “not completely out of the woods” yet.

Nicky Henderson is hoping Constitution Hill can return to Seven Barrows soon
Nicky Henderson is hoping Constitution Hill can return to Seven Barrows soon (David Davies/PA)

In a statement on X, the trainer said: “We have had a few traumatic days with poor Constitution Hill as he had to go to the veterinary hospital on Wednesday night in order to monitor suspected colic and I am pleased to say that they have managed to avoid surgery so far and this morning he is being reintroduced to a normal diet and if this goes well he could come home in the next day or so.

“We are not completely out of the woods but very hopeful that he will soon be back which will be an enormous relief.

“This will obviously interfere with our plan to get to Punchestown which is very sad but the only important thing at the moment is to get him safely home.”

Much-improved Constitution Hill could come into Punchestown picture

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Nicky Henderson has raised the faint possibility of Constitution Hill returning to action at the Punchestown Festival.

Last season’s brilliant Champion Hurdle winner had been a short price to defend his crown at Cheltenham last week, but a fortnight before the Festival a poor workout at Kempton led to the discovery of mucus in his scope.

There was a brief glimmer of hope he would come right in time for Cheltenham, but he was ultimately the first in a host of Henderson big guns to be ruled out of the showpiece meeting.

Henderson ran six horses on the first day of Cheltenham, five of which were pulled up. The only bright spot was Luccia finishing third in the Champion Hurdle, just three and a half lengths behind State Man, arguably making Constitution Hill’s absence even harder to bear.

One by one Henderson’s main chances were withdrawn, with Shishkin not even declared for Friday’s Gold Cup. Jonbon was taken out of the Champion Chase while Sir Gino also missed the Triumph Hurdle.

Nicky Henderson endured a tough week at Cheltenham
Nicky Henderson endured a tough week at Cheltenham (Adam Davy/PA)

Henderson was keen to point out that a very trying week was made a fraction more bearable due to the understanding shown by the racing industry as a whole.

“My owners were brilliant, very understanding, as were the media and everyone else in racing and for that I’ll be forever grateful,” he told the PA news agency.

While in hindsight Constitution Hill’s absence might have been a blessing given how Henderson’s week went, there may be green shoots of recovery. He also saddled a winner at Kempton on Saturday through Persian Time.

“He had his blood done yesterday, as he has done every Monday since what happened at Kempton,” said Henderson.

“It has kept on improving to the point where it is as near normal as it could possibly get without being 100 per cent. It is 99 per cent, which is a long way from where it started.

“He is back in routine exercise and has joined in at the back of the team this week.

“What he had and what the others had are two completely different things. He was pretty unwell, whereas all the others are very well but have a problem. I think it’s been well documented we have a problem.

“His blood tests told us he was unwell and given he’s so laid-back at home it was a good job we took him to Kempton.

“Now he’s better and his bloods are almost back to normality he can resume exercise, but he hasn’t galloped yet.

“We’ll tick along, you can take it he won’t be going to Aintree but if he continues and his work progresses with it, there is the possibility he could go to Punchestown which both Michael (Buckley, owner) and I would love to do if possible.

“If you were to ask me his primary objective I would most likely say it’s the Fighting Fifth next autumn, but if we can get to Punchestown then we will.”

Sir Gino was denied an outing in the Triumph Hurdle
Sir Gino was denied an outing in the Triumph Hurdle (Nigel French/PA)

He added: “Where we are mystified is that we thought they were well, their work was great but 10 days before Cheltenham they weren’t running well and everyone picked up on that, but we put it down to the ground and not being the ‘A team’.

“All appeared to be fine and all the tests were fine, but then we discovered the horses we were running were running dreadful.

“Every trainer in the country dreads this sort of thing, and for it to happen last week couldn’t have been worse, the timing was horrendous.

“Everybody has been through the mill, but as a team and family we at Seven Barrows would just like to thank everyone for how understanding everyone has been and for that we will be forever grateful. I wasn’t looking for sympathy, just a bit of understanding.

“We’ve been having massive meetings about how we get through this and we’ll take it easy this week and regroup next week and see where we are.

“We’ll see if we can get the main protagonists to Aintree. Sir Gino, Shishkin and Jonbon, they’ve all missed their dance. The next dance is Aintree and the one after that is Punchestown but they’ll only run in one, they would have done anyway.

“I love Punchestown and I love Aintree, they don’t quite have the pressure of Cheltenham but they are still Grade Ones so let’s try to get there.”

Henderson: No point in speculating on how Constitution Hill might have fared

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Nicky Henderson did not want to speculate on what might have been after seeing his admirable mare Luccia finish third in a Unibet Champion Hurdle lacking stable star Constitution Hill.

The undoubted ace in the Seven Barrows pack, Constitution Hill was mesmeric when leaving the Willie Mullins-trained State Man in his wake 12 months ago, but a very public sub-par workout at Kempton, followed by unsatisfactory scopes and blood test results meant he was unable to defend his crown.

State Man was therefore a short price to claim the feature event on day one of the Cheltenham Festival and duly landed the odds, but the proximity of the 140-rated Luccia in third, beaten just three and a half lengths, only made Constitution Hill’s absence all the more conspicuous.

Nicky Henderson with Constitution Hill
Nicky Henderson with Constitution Hill (David Davies/PA)

“I’m thrilled for State Man and Willie and Joe and Marie (Donnelly, owners), I’ve got three runners for them (Donnellys) on Friday and they’re the best,” said Henderson afterwards.

“We’ve had plenty of banter throughout the winter of how State Man and Constitution Hill are going to have a good battle and it wasn’t to be, which is a shame.

“There’s no point in speculating where Constitution Hill would have finished in front of Luccia, I think you can probably guess where he’s going to finish, but that’s for another day.”

Whether Constitution Hill will run again this season, either at Aintree or at Punchestown for a belated rematch with State Man, remains to be seen, but Henderson did issue an upbeat update on his well-being.

He added: “Constitution Hill was ridden out with the others this morning, which was nice to see. His bloods are better, but we’ve got a long way to go.

“He’s not 100 per cent (over the infection), but it’s a long way going down the road of improving dramatically.”

Constitution Hill’s setback aside, there is no doubt Henderson’s string has not been firing on all cylinders ahead of the Festival and the fact both Supreme Novices’ Hurdle contender Jeriko Du Reponet and Champion Hurdle hope Iberico Lord were pulled up gave the trainer further food for thought.

“Some of these horses probably aren’t running how they ought to, in which case he (Constitution Hill) is probably safer where he is,” he said.

“Everything you do at home tells you they’re all perfectly right, otherwise to be honest with you they wouldn’t be here.

“We’ll just have to play it quietly and take them as individuals. (The tests) say they’re all OK, but this ground has gone against quite a few of them, so we’ll have to regroup. I can think of two or three that won’t want to be running on that ground, but I need to talk to the owners first.”

Michael Buckley and Nicky Henderson following Constitution Hill's Champion Hurdle success last year
Michael Buckley and Nicky Henderson following Constitution Hill’s Champion Hurdle success last year (Tim Goode/PA)

The owner of National Hunt racing’s pre-eminent star, Michael Buckley, was also in attendance.

He said: “It’s not very gracious but I think if he ran, he’d have won the race, that is what I think. If I don’t believe in my horse, no one else will.

“He had his blood test yesterday and while they were remarkably improved from where they were a week ago, they weren’t ‘normal’ – but he is out and about.

“It’s not really for me to talk about Nicky’s horses, but on home work Iberico Lord would beat Luccia so, as everyone is commenting about, Nicky has something running about his yard.

“Obviously, Luccia is fine but Iberico Lord pulled up and so did the one in the first (Jeriko Du Reponet), so maybe I’m better off out of it and in a weird way I’m better off not running.”

While the Constitution Hill questions kept coming, Henderson was keen to praise 33-1 shot Luccia’s better than anticipated performance, saying “It was all Paul’s (Sandy, owner) idea to run, the idiotic trainer said ‘you’re mad’ and if I’d had any say in the matter she’d have run in the County Hurdle, but I’m not the boss.

“From two months ago, we’ve said we’d run her and give it a go, she’s a very good mare. She might be going to stud now, but I’ll try to persuade Paul to have another bash.”

No problems with Sir Gino, says Henderson

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Nicky Henderson has dismissed speculation about the well-being of JCB Triumph Hurdle market leader Sir Gino, insisting he is “100 per cent”.

The four-year-old was ultra-impressive when accounting for Burdett Road at Cheltenham on Trials day, since when he has been hot favourite to claim Triumph glory on Friday.

However, Sir Gino’s price began to drift alarmingly on Betfair on Saturday night, prompting suggestions he was under the weather.

His odds soon came tumbling back down, though, and Henderson said his charge is in fine spirits ahead of the Festival.

“He was in great form yesterday morning – I don’t know where this has come from, I really don’t,” the Seven Barrows handler told Racing TV’s Luck On Sunday programme.

“It’s just one of those things they love to throw at you just to test your mental agility, I think – it’s crazy.

“He schooled on Thursday and you wouldn’t see anything slicker. He had a nice piece (of work) on the last little bit he’s going to do. He doesn’t run until Friday…and he is 100 per cent, I can promise you, 100 per cent.”

Henderson also issued a positive update on Gold Cup hope Shishkin.

He added: “He’s in very good nick, I like to think. Shishkin is in very, very good form – we’re very happy, he’s come on a lot from Newbury I’d say.”

Meanwhile, Constitution Hill has been taking things easy since being ruled out of Tuesday’s Champion Hurdle.

“He hasn’t done much for the last week because the only thing to do is leave him alone and let him get over this,” said Henderson.

“We will take his blood again tomorrow morning, which will be comparable to last Monday’s one, and we just hope these figures keep improving. They’ll give me an indication just to when we can start to wander on with him.

“He’s absolutely fine in himself. He was down in the doldrums that week, after the gallop at Kempton, and he quietly over that weekend afterwards started to perk up a little bit, but we’ve done very little this last week.”

Bookies now wary of Cheltenham day one Mullins blitz

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Constitution Hill’s Cheltenham Festival absence has left bookmakers fearing an avalanche of cash on State Man, with Willie Mullins’ star two-mile hurdler now the overwhelming Unibet Champion Hurdle favourite.

Nicky Henderson’s defending champion obliged as the 4-11 favourite on the opening day of the Festival 12 months ago and was expected to do the double – especially after showing his well-being at Kempton on Boxing Day in the Christmas Hurdle.

However, it was a different tale when next sighted at the Sunbury venue, where a disappointing gallop kick-started a chain of events that has seen State Man ultimately promoted to big-race favourite on the news the Seven Barrows superstar will be missing from the action in the Cotswolds.

BoyleSports are expecting State Man to also take Constitution Hill’s place as the cornerstone of many punters’ multiples for the Festival, describing the 10-time winner as the ‘Irish banker’ of the week.

“It looks like State Man will be the Irish banker for this year’s Cheltenham Festival,” said BoyleSports spokesman Brian O’Keeffe.

“He is now the shortest-priced favourite over the four days of the meeting after Constitution Hill was ruled out of the Champion Hurdle by Seven Barrows.

“State Man isn’t a bad result quite yet, Constitution Hill had him well covered last year and most punters weren’t expecting anything different this year.

“We are expecting momentum and liabilities to start building behind him now pretty rapidly, especially if Ballyburn goes for the Supreme, as punters will likely latch onto the short-priced Willie Mullins treble on Tuesday, with Lossiemouth in the Mares’ Hurdle.

“It could be a long week for us if Tuesday doesn’t go our way and we imagine that State Man will be an accumulator maker or breaker for a lot of people across the four days.”

The only time State Man has tasted defeat in his last 11 runs was at the hands of Constitution Hill in last year’s Champion Hurdle and bookmakers are now in no rush to take him on.

Constitution Hill had State Man well held in last year's Champion Hurdle
Constitution Hill had State Man well held in last year’s Champion Hurdle (Mike Egerton/PA)

Paddy Power are one of the firms taking no risks by installing him as their 1-3 market leader – one of the shortest-priced favourites of the whole week.

“It is desperately disappointing news for racing fans who wanted to see possibly the greatest hurdler of our lifetimes at Cheltenham,” said Paddy Power spokesman Paul Binfield.

“Hopefully we will see him back to his brilliant best sooner rather than later, but in the meantime State Man has taken his place at the front of the market as a very short-priced favourite and he now looks the one to beat – he has proven he is the best hurdler around bar one for the last couple of seasons.

“If there is any good news from today, then at least Paddy Power have been ‘Non Runner Money Back’ on the Champion Hurdle for quite a while, so at least punters will get their hard-earned cash back if they have backed Constitution Hill.”

Many layers are hoping something will emerge from the periphery to take on State Man, with Sam Boswell of BetVictor eager to see fellow Irish raiders Irish Point and Lossiemouth rerouted to the Champion Hurdle picture.

Trainer Willie Mullins (left), with jockey Paul Townend and State Man
Trainer Willie Mullins (left), with jockey Paul Townend and State Man (Niall Carson/PA)

He said: “It is never nice to see racing lose one of its star attractions just days out from the Cheltenham Festival.

“The story of the Champion Hurdle now is not too dissimilar, with the fact we have a new but still very short-priced favourite in State Man from the all-conquering Willie Mullins yard.

“It would be nice to see the race have either stablemate and star mare Lossiemouth or Gordon Elliott’s Irish Point take their chance to make the showpiece on the Tuesday less processional.”

Morrison ‘disappointed’ not to face Constitution Festival test

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Hughie Morrison has expressed his disappointment after Constitution Hill was ruled out of the Unibet Champion Hurdle, despite his absence elevating Not So Sleepy to become the leading British contender for the Cheltenham Festival’s opening day feature.

Hopes of National Hunt’s flagship horse making the start line were dashed on Monday when Nicky Henderson announced blood test results showed the defending champion had not recovered sufficiently enough from a respiratory infection to line up in the Cotswolds.

That leaves the 12-year-old Not So Sleepy to fly the flag for the home team as he makes his fifth appearance in the Champion Hurdle – having previously finished no better than fifth.

Owner Lady Blyth and jockey Sean Bowen in the winner's enclosure with Not So Sleepy
Owner Lady Blyth and jockey Sean Bowen in the winner’s enclosure with Not So Sleepy (John Walton/PA)

He heads to Prestbury Park in rude health, having claimed the rearranged Fighting Fifth when last sighted.

But far from seeing Constitution Hill’s absence as a positive in Not So Sleepy’s claims for big-race glory, Morrison is regretful that the Seven Barrows superstar will be sitting on the sidelines during the biggest week of the season.

“I’m actually quite disappointed Constitution Hill is not turning up,” said Morrison.

“I don’t think I should be excited really and I’m quite disappointed. At the end of the day, we want the best to be there and the best probably isn’t going to be there. We would have liked to have taken him on – you always want to take on the best.

“Let’s hope we now get there in one piece.”

With Constitution Hill out of the picture and State Man now the heavy odds-on favourite with the layers, it is Not So Sleepy who is the shortest-priced British-trained Champion Hurdle contender, with the veteran a 14-1 chance with Paddy Power.

However, Morrison is still processing his charge’s position in the reformed market and is more worried about seeing some rain appear in the weather forecasts ahead of his big date on Tuesday week.

“I hadn’t really thought of it that way, but I’m just delighted to have something with good reason to be going there really,” said Morrison, when asked about the responsibility of being Britain’s number one hope.

Hughie Morrison will saddle Not So Sleepy in the Champion Hurdle
Hughie Morrison will saddle Not So Sleepy in the Champion Hurdle (John Walton/PA)

“On his day, he’s a really good horse and he deserves to be there – on a good day, he should be in the money. Over the years, he has run four times in the Champion Hurdle and has run reasonably well, but I’ve always thought I could have had him better.

“We are there to do our best and we’re slightly concerned about the weather forecast looking dry all week, but hopefully the rain will reappear at the weekend for us.

“Racehorses always give you sleepless nights, especially when they are 12 and they have got a few miles on the clock. There is always something creeping round the corner, as Nicky Henderson knows.

“Hopefully we can get him there in good nick but I would like a bit of rain to give us a chance.”

How the Constitution Hill heartbreak unfolded

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Nicky Henderson finally admitted defeat in his race to get Constitution Hill to the Cheltenham Festival on Monday after further blood tests indicated his star performer had not recovered sufficiently from the respiratory infection discovered last week.

Here, we look at a timeline of how the events unfolded:

February 27: Reports of Constitution Hill being eased down during a racecourse gallop at Kempton began to surface and bookmakers were quick to suspend betting on the Champion Hurdle.

February 27: Henderson quickly admitted the poor workout came “as a bit of a shock” and that Constitution Hill had subsequently scoped badly, but insisted he would not give up hope of making it to Cheltenham.

“Unfortunately, in a routine gallop this morning, Constitution Hill was very disappointing and it transpires, after the vet has scoped him, that there is evidence of mucus,” said the Seven Barrows handler.

“We’re taking a sample of it to a laboratory to analyse it, which will tell us about the significance of it and we should know more after that.”

February 27: Henderson then elaborated on the dramatic morning of events and initial medical tests.

He posted on X: “The sample from his tracheal wash has shown a small increase in the number of neutrophils which indicates a respiratory infection, which is significant but far from drastic.

“He will start a course of antibiotics immediately and we plan to rescope him on Friday in order to monitor which way this is going. He would only be having light exercise this week following this morning’s racecourse gallop.

“Both our own vet and the racecourse veterinary surgeon who scoped him feel we definitely have a chance of correcting this in time and we will be doing everything possible to do so. We have a fortnight to work him and it is possible, so we will keep everybody notified accordingly.

“He is absolutely fine within himself and we have simply got to get on top of this issue as quickly as possible.”

February 28: Henderson issued an upbeat bulletin, stating on X: “I am pleased to say that Constitution Hill appears perfectly normal this morning. He is bright and well and ate everything last night. His temperature has remained normal both last night and this morning.

“As with all the other horses that galloped at Kempton yesterday, they are having an easy day today. They have had a lead out and all appear to be sound and well and are having a good pick of grass.”

He added: “Fresh air is as important as anything for a horse’s lungs. The intention is to rescope on Friday to monitor which way this is going.”

February 29: In a morning interview at Seven Barrows, Henderson described his superstar as “alert and bright”, as he walked a line between giving the gelding adequate recovery time, while trying not to lose too much of his fitness edge.

“He can’t stay in his box, if we’ve got any pretentions of running in the Champion Hurdle, you can’t just knock it off and tuck him in bed,” Henderson told Sky Sports Racing.

“We’ve got to find the right balance between keeping him moving but not stressing him in any way at all.”

February 29: Henderson later received the results of a blood test on Constitution Hill and admitted they were “probably not what we were hoping for”.

In an update posted on X, he said: “The result of the blood test taken this morning goes quite a long way to explaining his disappointing performance at Kempton on Tuesday and confirms that he has a significant degree of inflammation.

“The figures themselves suggest he is definitely under the weather and we will need to repeat the test again on Monday in the hope that the situation improves.

“This is probably not what we were hoping for, but at least it tells us exactly where we are.”

March 1: Some positive news among the gloom, as Henderson says: “On what was about as foul and filthy morning as you can imagine at Seven Barrows, Constitution Hill had a light exercise and was rescoped afterwards as planned. This showed the neutrophil percentage, indicative of infection, was back to normal parameters with no mucus evident.

“This is obviously positive news but we cannot hide behind yesterday’s blood test which basically reveals that, in simple terms, our horse is ‘unwell’.”

March 2: Henderson was on a rare visit to Kelso, where speaking about Constitution Hill he affirmed: “The blood test on Monday will tell us everything and we will know where we are after that.

“If we don’t get the results we want on Monday, I wouldn’t go as far as to say it will be the end of the season. Let’s just cross each bridge when we come across it.

“When you train horses, you are going to walk into these situations and you’ve got to face up to it.”

March 4: The eagerly-awaited blood test results confirmed Henderson’s worst fears, with a title defence ruled out for Constitution Hill.

Henderson posted on X: “Very sadly we are going to have to admit defeat in the battle to get Constitution Hill ready for the Champion Hurdle and therefore have to declare that he will not be running there this year.

“He has undoubtedly improved over the weekend and seems noticeably brighter than he was at the end of last week and I really did think he was much perkier when ridden this morning.

“Unfortunately, the all-important blood test shows that although the figures have also improved, they are quite a way from being satisfactory for a horse to commence serious training and to race in a week’s time.

“This is very sad for all of us and particularly Michael (Buckley, owner) but it is in everybody’s best interests that we ensure we have a fit and healthy Constitution Hill to win back his crown next year.”

Constitution Hill Champion Hurdle KO confirmed

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Constitution Hill will not run at the Cheltenham Festival, trainer Nicky Henderson has announced.

The unbeaten and defending Champion Hurdle hero worked poorly at Kempton Park last Tuesday, putting his participation at the showpiece meeting in major doubt.

A scope showed mucus in his lungs and despite slightly more positive news in the following days, results of a blood test on Thursday proved to be another blow.

He was scoped again on Friday morning, with Henderson saying that “showed the neutrophil percentage, indicative of infection, was back to normal parameters with no mucus evident”.

Constitution Hill winning the Champion Hurdle last season
Constitution Hill winning the Champion Hurdle last season (David Davies/PA)

However, he stressed another blood test on Monday would probably prove to be the “acid test”, and on receiving the results he posted on his official X account: “Very sadly we are going to have to admit defeat in the battle to get Constitution Hill ready for the Champion Hurdle and therefore have to declare that he will not be running there this year.

“He has undoubtedly improved over the weekend and seems noticeably brighter than he was at the end of last week and I really did think he was much perkier when ridden this morning.

“Unfortunately the all-important blood test shows that although the figures have also improved, they are quite a way from being satisfactory for a horse to commence serious training and to race in a week’s time.

“There are three significant markers on the blood test all of which have come down since Thursday’s sample but are still raised enough to indicate that he has not fully recovered from whatever was ailing him.

“The only way to continue the improvement is not to stress him and he obviously cannot run in these Olympic games if he’s not trained sufficiently.

“This is very sad for all of us and particularly Michael (Buckley, owner) but it is in everybody’s best interests that we ensure we have a fit and healthy Constitution Hill to win back his crown next year.”

State Man, who finished second at Cheltenham last year, is now the 1-3 favourite for the Champion Hurdle with Coral, while Paddy Power offer odds of 2-5.

Constitution Hill was an Aintree winner last year
Constitution Hill was an Aintree winner last year (David Davies/Jockey Club)

Constitution Hill could yet run again this term, with Aintree and Punchestown possible options according to Buckley, although future plans are on an immediate hold, pending the gelding’s return to better health.

He told the Nick Luck Daily podcast: “I think that’s what we’d like to think of doing (going to Aintree and/or Punchestown next). I think we will wait for 10 days and just make sure.

“There’s no point in talking about it to anybody now simply because we just want to make sure he does get rid of all these infections and he seems to be fine and perky and so-forth, and then we might think about one or the other.

“I doubt that we would run in both to be truthful, but who knows.”

Henderson back winning again, as D-Day looms for Constitution Hill

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Nicky Henderson was back among the winners on Saturday to give him something to smile about as he awaits the Cheltenham Festival fate of Constitution Hill.

The champion hurdler scoped badly in the immediate aftermath of his disappointing Kempton workout on Tuesday, while blood test results received on Thursday gave connections even more cause for concern.

A further scope conducted on Friday appeared more encouraging, but Henderson revealed a second blood test to be taken on Monday would be the “acid test”.

He said: “The blood test on Monday will tell us everything and we will know where we are after that.

“If we don’t get the results we want on Monday I wouldn’t go as far as to say it will be the end of the season. Let’s just cross each bridge when we come across it.

“When you train horses you are going to walk into these situations and you’ve got to face up to it.

“It had all been too easy. Everybody thinks it is ‘ABC’ and it has been with him, except he can’t tell you when he’s wrong because he so laid-back about life.

“He’s the slowest walker, the slowest trotter and you have to drag him out of bed on a morning. With most horses you can tell, but with him you can’t as he can’t talk to you, most horses can.”

Spring Note won at Newbury for the Seven Barrows handler, while the Grade One-winning Jango Baie finished second in front of Henderson at Kelso, after which he said: “That’s the second time he’s had to run in a really good race with a 5lb penalty, it stops them. But if you win a Grade One you can’t have your cake and eat it.

“He’s a good horse. He wants to go up in trip, there’s no doubt about that, two-mile-two is tight for him. You could go two and a half but he won over two miles at Aintree, mainly because he stays.

“Over fences he’ll be going three, I’d imagine, and he’ll be very good. This time next year hopefully we’ll be talking about Cheltenham with him.

“Of course it’s nice to see one run well, I’m conscious of what’s happening, but it’s not a lot of pleasure, I can tell you that.

“To be fair the ground in our neck of the woods is so bad, and our horses always want better ground.”

Monday set to be crunch time for Constitution Hill and Cheltenham

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Nicky Henderson expects a second blood test on Monday to be the “acid test” in Constitution Hill’s race against time to be fit for the Cheltenham Festival.

The unbeaten and defending Champion Hurdle hero worked poorly at Kempton Park on Tuesday, putting his participation at the showpiece meeting in major doubt.

A scope showed mucus in his lungs and despite slightly more positive news in the following days, results of a blood test on Thursday proved to be another blow.

Nicky Henderson with Constitution Hill last week
Nicky Henderson with Constitution Hill last week (David Davies/PA)

In a statement issued on X on Friday, Henderson revealed the results of a second scope were more encouraging, but admits his stable star is still “unwell” with his intended return to action in the Cotswolds a little over a week away.

Henderson said: “On what was about as foul and filthy morning as you can imagine at Seven Barrows, Constitution Hill had a light exercise and was rescoped afterwards as planned. This showed the Neutrophil percentage, indicative of infection, was back to normal parameters with no mucus evident.

“This is obviously positive news but we cannot hide behind yesterday’s blood test which basically reveals that, in simple terms, our horse is ‘unwell’.

“He will have a quiet weekend and we propose, as originally planned, to take a further blood test on Monday which I believe will be the acid test. Therefore I think we might leave it until then to keep everybody updated on the situation.”

Rising Cheltenham hopes for Constitution Hill knocked by blood test results

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Nicky Henderson admitted the results of a blood test on Constitution Hill were “probably not what we were hoping for” as the horse faces a race against time to be fit for the Unibet Champion Hurdle.

The reigning two-mile champion had been very skinny odds for a Festival defence until he posted a lacklustre workout at Kempton on Tuesday morning, when the seven-year-old was virtually pulled up by Nico de Boinville.

It transpired after he was scoped that he had mucus in his lungs but Henderson had been able to issue an upbeat bulletin on both Wednesday afternoon and Thursday morning.

However, the Seven Barrows handler was then less encouraged when later getting the results of a blood test on Constitution Hill, and the unbeaten runner will repeat the process on Monday in the hope of an improvement.

In an update posted on X (formerly Twitter), Henderson said: “The result of the blood test taken this morning goes quite a long way to explaining his disappointing performance at Kempton on Tuesday and confirms that he has a significant degree of inflammation.

“The figures themselves suggest he is definitely under the weather and we will need to repeat the test again on Monday in the hope that the situation improves.

“We intend to scope him again tomorrow morning, but it appears that the blood test is a more conclusive barometer and the one we need to concentrate on.

“This is probably not what we were hoping for, but at least it tells us exactly where we are.”

Constitution Hill was an impressive winner at Kempton on Boxing Day
Constitution Hill was an impressive winner at Kempton on Boxing Day (Steven Paston/PA)

Henderson had described his superstar as “alert and bright” earlier on Thursday as he walks a line between giving the Michael Buckley-owned gelding adequate recovery time, while trying not to lose too much of his fitness edge.

“He can’t stay in his box, if we’ve got any pretentions of running in the Champion Hurdle, you can’t just knock it off and tuck him in bed,” Henderson told Sky Sports Racing.

“We’ve got to find the right balance between keeping him moving but not stressing him in any way at all. He is the most relaxed person you’ll ever come across and I actually think he looks quite bright.

“Horses often get these problems, they are like kids in school. He hasn’t coughed at all. It’s exactly like a school, you can’t have 100 per cent of them right all of the time, it’s not possible. Normally we’d have time to get over it, it’s the timing that is wrong.

“If he was a normal horse you’d leave off him for a week and aim at something else but while there is something else to aim at, there’s only one Champion Hurdle.

“Work-wise he’s done all his galloping, we’d do another piece of work next week to see where he is if everything is testing good. That would have to be him at his best.”

Constitution Hill ‘bright’ on Thursday, but Cheltenham remains in the balance

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Constitution Hill was reported by Nicky Henderson to be looking “alert and bright” on Thursday morning – but until the champion hurdler is scoped again on Friday his participation at Cheltenham is no clearer.

The racing world was rocked on Tuesday, when the unbeaten seven-year-old went to Kempton for a routine pre-Cheltenham gallop but was effectively pulled up by Nico de Boinville.

It transpired after he was scoped that he had mucus in his lungs, and Henderson faces a race against time to get his stable star back to full health for a week on Tuesday.

“He can’t stay in his box, if we’ve got any pretentions of running in the Champion Hurdle, you can’t just knock it off and tuck him in bed,” Henderson told Sky Sports Racing.

“We’ve got to find the right balance between keeping him moving but not stressing him in any way at all. He is the most relaxed person you’ll ever come across and I actually think he looks quite bright.

“His coat looks bright and he’s the same as he is every day, he’s no different than he is on a normal morning because he’s just very laid back about life. But at least he’s got the brains to tell us when he’s wrong he is wrong and it is the first time he’s had to do that.

“He looks alert and bright, but he obviously wasn’t feeling well as the work was so sub-par it wasn’t true.

“The plan is to scope him again on Friday. His blood was taken this morning and it will be interesting to see what that says.

“It will be very interesting what comes out tomorrow to see what the mucus level is.

“Horses often get these problems, they are like kids in school. He hasn’t coughed at all. It’s exactly like a school, you can’t have 100 per cent of them right all of the time, it’s not possible. Normally we’d have time to get over it, it’s the timing that is wrong.

“If he was a normal horse you’d leave off him for a week and aim at something else but while there is something else to aim at, there’s only one Champion Hurdle.

“You’d have to be 100 per cent for a race like that. I’ve heard people say he’s got so much in hand it won’t matter but he hasn’t got anything in hand, we all know it’s going to be tough, Champion Hurdles are tough naturally.

“They have to put an enormous amount in and I think the thing with horses as good as him is they can put 110 per cent in, maybe a lot of horses can’t. You can’t go in half-cooked.

“Work-wise he’s done all his galloping, we’d do another piece of work next week to see where he is if everything is testing good. That would have to be him at his best.”

Henderson issues positive Constitution Hill update

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Nicky Henderson has issued an upbeat bulletin on Constitution Hill, a day on from the disappointing workout which rocked the Unibet Champion Hurdle market and racing in general.

The undoubted superstar of the National Hunt world was at Kempton Park on Tuesday morning, as the Seven Barrows trainer put the finishing touches to his Cheltenham Festival squad.

But Henderson was left “in shock” at what Constitution Hill produced, and he subsequently scoped badly.

Giving an update on his X (formerly Twitter account) on Wednesday, he said: “I am pleased to say that Constitution Hill appears perfectly normal this morning. He is bright and well and ate everything last night. His temperature has remained normal both last night and this morning.

“As with all the other horses that galloped at Kempton yesterday, they are having an easy day today. They have had a lead out and all appear to be sound and well and are having a good pick of grass.

“We would plan to ride them all, including Constitution Hill, tomorrow, although he will have quieter exercise for the next 48 hours at least as we still have to bear in mind that he has got a hopefully relatively mild lung infection which has to improve considerably before any serious work could begin again.

“Fresh air is as important as anything for a horse’s lungs. The intention is to rescope on Friday to monitor which way this is going.”