Constitution Hill has been tipped to become an 'all time great' following a stunning display in the opening race of the 2022 Cheltenham Festival.
On Tuesday, the 9-4 joint-favourite made it a dream start to the week for trainer Nicky Henderson by winning the Sky Bet Supreme Novices' Hurdle, finishing strongly to beat stablemate Jonbon by 22 lengths. In doing so, the horse smashed Annie Power's track record and left some comparing his run to Golden Cygnet's famous triumph in 1978.
Afterwards, jockey Nico de Boinville labelled his ride "a legend," and shortly afterwards bookmakers were already quoting Constitution Hill at odds of 3-1 for next year's Champion Hurdle. And the hype was still very much apparent on Wednesday morning.
On the ITV Racing: The Opening Show programme, pundit Rishi Persad predicted bigger things to come. Despite conceding that Honeysuckle, who defended her own Champion Hurdle crown with jockey Rachael Blackmore, was the 'headline act' - he implied Constitution Hill's display was the standout.
"The impression that Constitution Hill created in winning the first race is something that will live long in the memory," he said. "But not just visually, I'm not normally a number bod but I spent last night looking at his performance against Honeysuckle's performance.
"And just to boil it down, if he was to repeat what he did yesterday time and time again, we are talking about one of the all time greats. That was something extraordinary from Constitution Hill."
When interviewed after the race, De Boinville's assessment of the five-year-old, owned by Michael Buckley, was equally glowing. having seemingly kicked for home too early, the horse maintained an impressive pace in the final straight amid huge cheers from the 68,000 plus crowd.
"I knew it was going to be fast and furious and in fairness he did it like a piece of work," he said. "I was so happy going to the last. He could be anything, I'm sure he'd jump a fence as well. He's got so much scope.
"I didn't really have a choice [to go for home early], he was travelling so well. They've gone a really hard gallop and he's just picked the bridle up. What a way to start the week, what a legend."
Wednesday promises to be another momentous day, as Tiger Roll aims to bow out with a fourth win in the Glenfarclas Chase. The 12-year-old, who has five wins at Cheltenham in all and is also a dual Grand National winner, is set to be retired after the race.
Racing TV is the only channel broadcasting every race live from the Cheltenham Festival, with two exclusive races each day. For a limited time, you can join Racing TV for half price for the Festival – just £12.49 a month for an entire year, with promo code "RTVCHELT50". Click this link for details
