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 (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 (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.”
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Luccia made her excellent late hurdling count when collecting a valuable victory in the Betfair Exchange Trophy at Ascot.
Nicky Henderson’s mare was pressed all the way up the home straight by stablemate Impose Toi at the end of the £150,000 contest.
But while the latter clouted the last couple of obstacles, Luccia negotiated them in a swift and clean manner under Paul O’Brien to gain the upper hand.
Impose Toi tried his best to claw back the deficit on the run-in, but 9-2 chance Luccia was still a neck in front at the finishing line, securing a first prize of over £85,000.
💜💛LUCCIA leads home a 1-2 for the yard as she bravely holds on from the rallying IMPOSE TOI to win the finale at @Ascot. A fantastic ride from Paul O’Brien 👏 pic.twitter.com/rPD2qACWsP
“If a race like that is going to put up prize-money like that, then we are going to throw everything at it – we ran three,” said Henderson, who also saddled 11-4 favourite Iberico Lord in seventh. “It’s a huge pot and you’ve got to have a go.
“Luccia had every right to be there (at the finish), Iberico Lord beat her the time before at Cheltenham but she had an 8lb swing and she was right there at the last in Cheltenham.
“That is probably as good a way to ride her as you can find. There was no pace and Paul was only trying to dictate it. He was controlling the race actually.
“To get her back is an amazing thing, because we nearly lost her. A tendon in her hind leg locked and she did the splits and couldn’t get up.
“She’s homebred and it’s great. She was top-class last year and she is deserving of a race like this, to be fair. She was heading to the top and things didn’t quite work out, but she was good today.
“I suppose we will have to go (to the Betfair Hurdle), you have to don’t you. But I have always wanted to try her over two and a half to see if she is up for the Mares’ Hurdle.
“To be fair, if you are making the running in a race like that at that pace and getting home, then I would like to try her up in trip and see if she’s game for the Mares’. She deserves a shot at something like that.”
Victtorino continued the excellent run of Venetia Williams and Charlie Deutsch by landing the Howden Silver Cup Handicap Chase over three miles.
Victtorino ridden by Charlie Deutsch goes on to win at Ascot (Steven Paston/PA)
Flash Collonges and Git Maker locked horns up front for a long time but paid the price for going too hard and cried enough before the home turn.
There was then four in a line jumping the second-last, but Deutsch had been biding his time in behind on Victtorino and was clearly travelling the best, despite carrying 12st at the age of five in such a competitive contest.
Two beautiful jumps put the 4-1 shot in control and he was always doing enough to fend off the late surge of Yeah Man by three-quarters of a length.
“He’s remarkably grown up for a five-year-old and is really exciting,” said Williams.
“It looked like it wasn’t going to go for us today, there was a strong pace and he wanted to go on the outside, but Blackjack Magic was holding that position and he couldn’t really get by into the position he wanted.
“From Swinley Bottom up, it was pedal to the metal and he met a few of those on an awkward stride, which made things difficult for him, but he dealt with it.
“To see him then go on to the line, and obviously he was being caught, but Charlie felt when the other horse got to his quarters, he felt him pick up a little bit.”
The Tolworth Novices’ Hurdle used to be staged at Sandown Park racecourse in early January and is often a good guide ahead of the Cheltenham Festival in March.
However, the race has been moved to Aintree and is now run as the William Hill Formby Novices’ Hurdle (Grade 1) (Formerly The Tolworth Hurdle)
In recent years, the contest has been a good race for the favourite with 9 of the last 15 market leaders being placed, with six being successful, while winners often go onto contest a race at that season’s Cheltenham Festival – with Noland (2006), the 2018 winner – Summerville Boy and 2022 winner Constitution Hill going onto win the Supreme Novices Hurdle.
While the 2016 winner, Yorkhill, went onto land the Neptune Investment Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival later that season.
The Tizzard yard have won three of the last 7 runnings and Nicky Henderson has five successes since 2011, including with the exciting Constitution Hill in 2022. Paul Nicholls won the race three years in a row between 2006 and 2008, plus last year in 2023 with Tahmuras.
Here at GEEGEEZ we give you all the key stats ahead of the 2023 renewal, this year staged on Tuesday December 26th
18/19 – Won over at least 2m (hurdles) before
18/19 – Placed 1st or 2nd in their last race
17/19 – Raced within the last 6 weeks
17/19 – Priced 5/1 or shorter
17/19 – Won by a horse aged either 5 or 6 years-old
16/19 – Won between 1-2 times over hurdles previously
16/19 – Came from the top three in the market
15/19 – Won last time out
13/19 – Placed favourites 11/19 – Won by an Irish bred horse
10/19– Won by a horse aged 5 years-old
10/19 – Winning Favourites
6/19 – Ran at either Sandown (4) or Newbury (2) last time out
5/19 – Won by the Paul Nicholls stable
4/19 – Won by the Nicky Henderson stable
4/19 – Ran at Sandown before
2/19 – Won by the Jonjo O’Neill stable
3/19 – Won the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle later that season (Constitution Hill, 2022, Summerville Boy, 2018 & Noland, 2006)
1/19 - Won the Neptune Investment Hurdle later that season (Yorkhill 2016)
5 or 6 years-old have won 25 of the last 31 runnings
Since 1988 ALL winners have been aged 7 or younger
The average winning SP in the last 19 runnings is 3/1
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Nicky Henderson is likely to make a late call on whether Marie’s Rock runs in the Close Brothers Mares’ Hurdle or steps up in trip for the Paddy Power Stayers’ Hurdle at Cheltenham.
Winner of the Mares’ Hurdle last season, she beat the boys on her only outing to date this term in the Relkeel, but she has yet to run over three miles.
“Marie’s Rock is in very, very good form. There is a question with Marie’s Rock and it is definitely possible she can move up and run in the Stayers’ Hurdle,” said Henderson.
“Tom Palin (of owners Middleham Park) and I have discussed it and no doubt we will discuss a lot more. It certainly won’t be a decision we’ll make in the near future and we’ll just have to wait and see.
“I know she hasn’t run over three miles, but she won very well in the Relkeel on New Year’s Day. She’s stayed well both times she has won at Cheltenham, she flies up the hill and I thought she was very impressive on New Year’s Day. She’s fit, fresh and well and all things are ready to go and we will have to consider.
“The horse who won yesterday (Blazing Khal), I don’t know the horse at all to be honest with you and there are a few around at the moment – Gordon’s horse (Teahupoo), he looks the best I’ve seen. You have got to always respect old Paisley Park. They are not bad but there is no standout.
“Now in the Mares’ you are going to have Epatante, you are going to have Honeysuckle, you might even have Theatre Glory. So there is a bit to be said for at least considering the Stayers’, but we can sit on that and the ground might have a good bit to do with it.”
Theatre Glory is also trained by Henderson and was very impressive at Warwick on Saturday.
Theatre Glory has improved markedly with each outing this term (Tim Goode/PA)
He said: “Theatre Glory would want really good ground. She has to be supplemented as does Epatante, but you can take it they are intended runners.
“I’ve said from the beginning when it appeared Epatante hadn’t been entered, she should be treated as a runner for betting purposes because it’s 50-50 whether she goes Champion Hurdle or Mares’. Just because she’s not in the race, doesn’t mean she won’t run. She can be in the race and so could Theatre Glory.”
Epatante’s options are another crack at the Champion Hurdle which she won in 2020 or to take on her own sex.
“Epatante has run once over two and a half miles at Aintree and she stayed very well, she won very easily that day,” said Henderson.
Nicky Henderson and Epatante on Monday morning (David Davies/PA)
“It was great to see her win like that at Doncaster the other day, it was very impressive. I know she beat nothing but at least she has shown what Constitution Hill is beating.
“What she showed the other day is how good Constitution Hill is, given he keeps slamming her and then she can come out and beat her own playmates as easily as that. I thought she was superb the other day and she jumped excellently.”
Should she run in the Mares’ Hurdle she will face Honeysuckle, who has beaten her in the Champion the last two seasons.
“I can see their point to be fair. Both her runs this year would suggest she is just not quite where she was last year and I think an extra half a mile is going to help her, so I think it is the sensible thing to do,” Henderson said of the decision to keep Honeysuckle to her own sex.
“Having got a couple of mares of our own, I think I would have preferred her in the Champion Hurdle, but she’s been great and really great for the game.
“Most people would like to see her go out in a blaze of glory winning the Mares’. I’m afraid I’m probably one of the only people who wouldn’t find that so popular.”
Henderson is still leaning towards running Luccia in the Ryanair Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle despite her impressive display at Exeter on Sunday.
She holds an entry in the Sky Bet Supreme Novices’ Hurdle, for which she would get a 7lb mares’ allowance, but Henderson would need convincing to roll the dice.
The fact she is around 10-1 for the Supreme and 7-4 favourite for the Mares’ Novices’ is also weighing on Henderson’s mind.
“Luccia ought to go for the Mares’. She was impressive yesterday. Nico (de Boinville) was tempted by the Supreme but the betting tells you what you’ve got to do, surely?” said Henderson.
“You don’t have to decide yet. We did put her in it, which I thought was ambitious at the time anyway. I would be in favour of sticking to the Mares’ I must admit.
“Paul (Sandy, owner) and I will have a chat nearer the time and if there was a forfeit stage tomorrow we’d leave her in, but I can’t believe you’d throw away the Mares’. I’m not saying she will win that, but at least you know you’ve a very good chance of having a winner.
“I do like having the winner of the Supreme because it sets you up for the rest of the week, but we haven’t anything else so we’ll see. I’ll have a look but I can’t believe it’s the right thing to do.
“In the years of Altior and Shishkin, we were heading to the Supreme with confidence. I couldn’t come out and say we thought we’d win, but I remember in Min’s year all we heard was Min, Min Min and I just thought ‘good luck because you won’t beat Altior’. I couldn’t say that about Luccia.”
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Nicky Henderson’s Luccia opened up further Cheltenham Festival options with a straightforward victory in the Virgin Bet Daily Extra Places Novices’ Hurdle at Exeter.
Unbeaten in three starts prior to the run, the chestnut brought forward flawless bumper form and an existing Listed hurdle win gained at Newbury in November.
Not seen since after her Tolworth preparations were interrupted by an unsatisfactory scope, Luccia was nevertheless the 8-13 favourite under Nico de Boinville.
She travelled happily throughout and swept past her rivals with ease when asked, only giving connections a sole moment of doubt with a cat-leap at last.
Her 11-length Listed victory was still easily achieved, however, and she remains undefeated.
“She’s good, isn’t she? She’s been amazing because she had two bumpers last year and then we seriously nearly lost her,” Henderson told Racing TV.
“She had an extraordinary incident and she was as close to being put down as you’ll see. We didn’t know if she’d come back at all or if she’d be able to jump, it was a hind-end injury.
“We were a bit brave, we started her in a Listed race and she won that really well, then she had a dirty scope like one or two of them over the winter.
“This was the perfect race and the perfect timing just to get one more run into her. To be fair, it looked competitive and like it was going to be a good test but it didn’t seem to phase her at all.”
Of her less fluent attempt at the last flight, the trainer added: “She jumps well, we do a lot of extra schooling with her in the indoor school. Nico loves going round there on her, it just helps her technique a little bit.
Luccia on her hurdling debut (John Walton/PA)
“Rather than just hurdling, she learns to jump properly and she does jump well, she was just untidy at the last but otherwise she was very quick and economical all the way round. I’ve got to say I was impressed.”
The Ryanair Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle was always the intended target for Luccia, but the triumph has brought the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle into the equation come March.
“I’d say the mares’, personally,” said Henderson.
To the suggestion that she is good enough for the Supreme, he then added: “That’s what my jockey said – we’ve got four weeks to discuss it.”
Henderson and De Boinville enjoyed a treble on the card with The Carpenter (7-4) on the mark in the Virgin Bet British Stallion Studs EBF ‘National Hunt’ Novices’ Hurdle, while Walking On Air (15-8 favourite) proved too good in the Pertemps Network Handicap Hurdle.
Venetia Williams’ Pink Legend returned to winning ways to land the Listed Virgin Bet Best Odds Daily Mares’ Chase under Charlie Deutsch.
Charlie Deutsch and Pink Legend at Ascot (Simon Marper/PA)
The nine-year-old was a 4-1 chance for the contest and made all of the running over the three-mile trip, her main pursuer being Jeremy Scott’s 11-10 favourite Kissesforkatie.
Four from home the two locked horns and it was Pink Legend that pulled away and stayed on well to claim a five-length victory ahead of Scott’s mare, with the Williams-trained stablemate Kapga De Lily a further half-length behind.
“I’m really delighted, obviously we wanted to get a bit of black type for Kapga De Lily,” said Williams.
“Pink Legend can sometimes be a bit of a law unto herself. Frank Mahon, who owns her, has always been assertive about the ground and said on good ground she likes it.
“He’s absolutely right and Charlie said as soon as she jumped off she was straight into the bridle, she jumped the first and she was off.
“It’s her first time back over three miles for a while, she enjoyed the tempo and everybody was very happy to have somebody to make the running. It was great.”
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Luccia is aiming to book her Cheltenham Festival ticket in the Virgin Bet Daily Extra Places Novices’ Hurdle at Exeter on Sunday.
Nicky Henderson’s talented mare has only been seen once this season – but just like when she ran in her two bumpers, she displayed a good deal of talent.
Henderson took the unusual step of letting her make her hurdling debut in Listed company at Newbury which she won with ease and then he wanted to test her at the highest level in the Tolworth at Sandown.
Unfortunately she was ruled out of that engagement with a dirty scope, but she is ready to go again now in a Listed event against Paul Nicholls’ Lallygag and Charlie Longsdon’s Western Zephyr among others.
“She has done everything right so far and made a very impressive debut over hurdles at Newbury. She is in great form and has been working well,” said Henderson.
“It was very annoying that we had to miss the Tolworth Hurdle with her as that is where I wanted to go, but she had a little bit of a dirty scope and we had to miss a little bit of time with her.
“She is all good now and we need to get another run into her for more experience over hurdles before we go to Cheltenham.
“I could have found an easier race for her to run, but this is a decent prize to aim. Although she does act on soft, this ground will be fine for her.”
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Nicky Henderson’s Luccia is likely to make her next start in a Listed contest at Exeter.
Unbeaten in three runs in bumper and hurdles company, an unsatisfactory scope ruled her out of her intended run in last month’s Grade One Tolworth Hurdle at Sandown.
That issue has now been resolved and Luccia is now going to head to the Listed Virgin Bet Novices’ Hurdle at Exeter on February 12, ahead of a possible bid for the Ryanair Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival – race for which she is currently the 3-1 second favourite.
Luccia and jockey James Bowen (John Walton/PA)
“She had a dirty scope a while back when we were trying to run her in the Tolworth, that’s all cleared,” the trainer told Sky Sports Racing.
“There’s quite a nice Listed novice hurdle at Exeter on Sunday week, I would think that would be the likely port of call.
“I was always thinking I would get two more runs into her, but I’m not finding it as easy to map that out as I rather hoped I might.
“In that case it might be one more and she’ll go for that Listed race down there.”
Ante-post favourite Luccia has been ruled out of Saturday’s Unibet Tolworth Hurdle at Sandown due to an unsatisfactory scope.
Nicky Henderson had taken the bold decision to run the mare against the boys after the five-year-old made a sparkling hurdling debut in Listed company at Newbury.
While that plan has had to be shelved, Henderson is not too concerned by the setback, saying Luccia can drop back into novice company with a penalty if he so wishes.
“Rather disappointingly, she has scoped dirty and there’s nothing we can do about it,” said Henderson.
“I haven’t given any thought as to where she might go now but we’ve plenty of opportunities, bearing in mind she’s only won once.
“I did want to get two runs into her but as she won a Listed race, I just thought we might as well be brave and look at this. It’s not to be and Paul Sandy (owner) and myself are very disappointed.
“It would have been fascinating but we can’t do it and that’s that. If the worse comes to the worse, we can go back into a mares’ novice, she doesn’t have to run in anything fancy.
“You just couldn’t tell how long she’d be off. She will tell us when she’s better but there was mucus and she’s got an infection, so she’ll have some antibiotics for a few days and hopefully it won’t hold her up long. She’s fit as a fiddle anyway.”
Authorised Speed is the new 6-4 favourite with Paddy Power for the Tolworth.
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Luccia is set to take on the boys with her name one of 11 to appear in the list of entries for the Unibet Tolworth Novices’ Hurdle at Sandown on Saturday.
The unbeaten five-year-old has already tasted Listed success at the Esher track when winning a bumper there last March and added a further victory at that level when making an impressive hurdling debut at Newbury in November.
She now steps up to Grade One action looking to enhance trainer Nicky Henderson’s fine record in the race and follow up Constitution Hill’s impressive triumph for Seven Barrows 12 months ago.
Authorised Speed has a course and distance win to his name and the Champion Bumper fifth looks a real classy operator for Gary Moore, while Tahmuras is two from two over obstacles and looks to give Paul Nicholls a third Grade One success in as many weeks.
Colin Tizzard won the race in 2017, 2019 and 2020 and son Joe now looks to keep the Venn Farm record going by saddling Scarface, who is unbeaten in two outings over further this term. He has plenty of experience to his name and will look to bring his stamina to the fore dropping back in trip.
L’Astroboy has only been sighted twice, but has created a taking impression each time and represents Evan Williams, while Jamie Snowden saddled the runner-up in Newbury’s Challow Hurdle on Saturday and attempts to go one better with Colonel Harry who was a clear-cut seven-length scorer at Sandown when last sighted.
Arctic Bresil after winning on debut at Cork (Thomas Weekes/PA)
Henry de Bromhead’s Arctic Bresil downed a well-regarded favourite when recording an easy victory on hurdling debut at Cork and is the only possible raider from Ireland.
Ukantango (Olly Murphy), Blow Your Wad (Tom Lacey), Nemean Lion (Kerry Lee) and Joe Dadancer (Ben Pauling) complete the list of those potential runners.
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The minute the decision was made to pull Constitution Hill out of a probable exhibition round that was going to double as his return to action at Ascot last weekend, you knew Nicky Henderson would merely shrug his shoulders and switch him to Newcastle, writes Tony Stafford.
What about 2020 Champion Hurdle heroine Epatante, long since pencilled in for a third consecutive challenge after one and a half wins (she shared the 2021 Fighting Fifth Hurd1e with Not So Sleepy)? Tough, she can run too, he reasoned. As I said here last week, he has plenty of previous.
The net effect: J P McManus, instead of collecting the owner’s share of £64,710, cedes that to Michael Buckley and gets instead £24,380. Lady Blyth, whose Not So Sleepy finished well to get within two and a half lengths of Epatante on ground faster than ideal, collected half of what would have been the case. Then again, J P has become used to that sort of thing over the years.
While Nicky looked on from Newbury, animatedly showing the cameras a real anxiety at the outcome, Buckers made the journey and shared in the wonder of it all with the viewers. Meanwhile, back at Newbury, Hendo was resplendent in the Cossack-style hat he had bought at the Peter O’Sullevan lunch on Thursday, a midwinter accoutrement for the master commentator, a man rightly still revered seven years after his death at the age of 97.
That generous gesture would have given Nicky some brownie points. J P is a leading light in the annual organisation of the charity event in memory of his late, great friend, which has provided so much welcome help to good causes, never needed more than in today’s straightened times.
For Henderson, the sight of Constitution Hill effortlessly drawing away from his older, female stable companion to the tune of 12 lengths must have been received with a mixture of pride and not inconsiderable relief. It may also mean that the three-year stranglehold on the top spot in hurdling by mares is about to end.
The trainer’s percentage remained whatever it is now of the £89k for Newcastle, on top of his automatic share in another £92k over two days at Newbury principally. On Friday J P McManus’ Champ – perhaps just as well – held off the fabulous finish of old adversary Paisley Park in the Coral Long Distance Hurdle, a win augmented by impressive novice winner Jet Powered earlier.
On Saturday, smart bumper performer Luccia stepped up in a very competitive fillies’ novice hurdle with a flawless performance on debut, almost in the Constitution Hill class, and First Street also impressed in the graduation hurdle against high class opposition. To complete the borderline obscenely successful weekend, Touchy Feely was an appropriate winner for Seven Barrows at Doncaster.
I have two post-scripts to the “do”. Ben Pauling was hard to reach on Friday morning, and when, finally he was contactable, he explained how tired he had been, understandable in view of the fact he got home from lunch at 1 a.m., replicating the sort of irresponsible behaviour that many used to exhibit at the annual Horserace Writers’ Awards lunch in London.
That pre-Christmas staple goes on at Lancaster Gate next Monday and I have received a welcome and most unexpected invitation. I promise I will make it home before midnight. (The following Monday we have family tickets for Cinderella. I better get into practice!)
The other amusing incident concerned a random meeting in the gents, mid-lunch between Henderson and Not So Sleepy’s trainer, Hughie Morrison. Hughie relates: “He wasn’t interested how Sleepy would run, just whether we would knock over one or other of his horses at the start or at the first hurdle.
“He asked, “which way does he hang?”, to which I replied: “Wherever the other horse happens to be!” That hardly placated him but, obviously, on the day he was as good as he ever has been and ran a blinder. Then again, going into last year’s Champion Hurdle, Sleepy was the highest-rated UK hurdler and his latest Cesarewitch run shows how unwise it is ever to under-estimate him.”
Top male hurdlers do not have an alternative championship race at the Cheltenham Festival, so trainers not keen to take on the now 4-7 shot Constitution Hill in the Champion, must either grin and bear it or wait for the 2m5f Aintree Hurdle. The mares have a couple of options at Cheltenham, and it would not be a shock if Epatante looked elsewhere after this summary lesson from her younger colleague.
What intrigues me more is the Honeysuckle situation that confronts Henry De Bromhead. His mare is on 16 wins unbeaten with two Champion Hurdles on the board. Does she carry on regardless and try for the hat-trick in the knowledge that her toughest challenge and most talented rival awaits? Or does she slip into a mares’ race to extend the unbeaten record?
You might almost wish her to have a hiccup in one of her prep races on the way. Such as being carried out at the start or first hurdle – don’t suggest Not So Sleepy! - so that it wouldn’t be numerically quite so vital. Then again there would be no shame or stud career implications in 16 and a couple more unbeaten and a second to Constitution Hill. If she did beat him – partisan Irish delirium and equine fame for as long as horses race over jumps awaits her. I hope they will meet next March for the Big Showdown on Prestbury Hill.
It's the big races that inevitably attract the most attention and are vital for the major stables that they collect their share of them. Over the past few years, the Dan Skelton stable has made a conscious decision to reduce its summer activity for a corresponding increase in concentration on the top end.
As the horses came to the closing stages of the Coral Gold Cup at Newbury on Saturday, Harry Skelton on his brother’s Le Milos was being vigorously pursued by two David Pipe-trained horses, Remastered and Gericault Rogue. Going to the last Gericault Rogue was seen to be tiring just as Remastered came on, seemingly about to atone for last season’s unlucky fall four from home when going like the probable winner.
Yet, hard as he strived, Le Milos found that little bit more to deny him. The £142,000 the horse brought his owners, the Jolly Good Partnership, tipped Skelton over the £1 million mark for the season, for the eighth time in succession. He has 54 wins to his credit.
That makes him the nearest to former boss Paul Nicholls, who had three victories over the Newbury weekend taking his tally to 70 and earnings of £1,161K. Most wins have been collected by Fergal O’Brien, nearer the old Skelton model with summer activity, but that alone cannot explain away 90 wins. It’s almost a rewind to the old Martin Pipe days.
Martin’s son has been doing extremely well this season already and despite missing the big one on Saturday, he’s now on a faster-than-recently 50 for the season. Had the Skelton horse departed at the last fence – not that anyone could have wished such an eventuality – Pipe would have been pushing £800k rather than £634k!
Nicky’s 35 wins so far have brought him neatly onto a shade over half a million and with the massive expectations of Constitution Hill, Luccia and novice chase prospect Jonbon, all set to clean up in their various categories barring mishap, he’ll be making up the ground rapidly from now on.
Henderson agreed that the Christmas Hurdle at Kempton would be the obvious step for Constitution Hill, and that was the next step for his 2008 winner of the Fighting Fifth, which was run at Wetherby as Newcastle was off games.
At that time Ian Turner, now racing manager for the McNeill family, was the man behind a sponsorship offering a £1 million bonus for a horse that won all three races culminating in the Champion Hurdle.
Punjabi won that Wetherby leg and by coincidence Turner was at the Yorkshire track last week to see his boss’s hurdles debutant Spartan Army (£170k, ex-Joseph O’Brien) win impressively for Alan King. He looks a natural for the Triumph Hurdle although Gary Moore’s Leicester winner, Perseus Way, looks smart too.
As to the £1 million, Punjabi fell at Kempton before winning the Champion Hurdle. That cost owner Ray Tooth, his trainer and the stable staff a chunk of money! Were they bothered? Not once Punjabi and Barry Geraghty claimed the Festival showpiece at 33/1 they weren’t!
Finally, while we’re talking in terms of millions, congratulations to Ryan Moore who early yesterday morning won his second Japan Cup at Tokyo racecourse. Riding 7-2 third favourite, Vela Azul, a five-year-old stallion, he won the £2,593,463.46 to the winner race for trainer Kunihiko Watanabe and owners Carrot Farm Co Ltd in daring fashion. After his wonderful Breeders’ Cup meeting earlier in the month, this makes 2022 a year to treasure for the former champion.
- TS
https://www.geegeez.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/ConstitutionHill_FightingFifth2022.jpg319830Tony Staffordhttps://www.geegeez.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/geegeez_banner_new_170x78.pngTony Stafford2022-11-28 09:02:202022-11-28 09:02:21Monday Musings: Of Champions – Past, Present and Future
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