Not so much a race as a regal procession, the Champion Hurdle on Tuesday marked the coronation of Constitution Hill as the racegoing public’s latest king. While there has long been a feeling that his latest win was always going to be a formality, the teary relief of the odds-on favourite’s trainer, Nicky Henderson, upon seeing the latest in a long line of Seven Barrows stable stars emphatically justify a stressful year of hype provided a stark reminder that no matter how good your horse is, in the dangerous hustle-bustle of National Hunt racing there are no end of things that can go wrong either by accident or through a rival’s design.
They could scarcely have gone more right for Constitution Hill. On an afternoon when already under-pressure jockeys went about their work in morbid dread of falling foul of recently implemented, unpopular and punitive rules regarding their use of the whip, Nico de Boinville had little need to worry about landing himself in hot water as he won doing handstands and pulling a metaphorical cart. Romping home by nine lengths – it could have been many more – from their nearest rivals, State Man and Paul Townend, the unbeaten partnership pulverised the seven-strong field with such ease the jockey simply had no need for recourse to his stick.
It was ever thus with Constitution Hill, who has now won his six career run-outs by a combined distance of 86 lengths without ever letting a rival get near, never mind upsides him at the business end of a race. Since hosing up in fine style in the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle last year, the six-year-old gelding had won on his only two starts without coming off the bridle and has now rubber-stamped his credentials as Cheltenham’s latest crowd favourite.
Given a patient ride by De Boinville, who diligently stalked I Like To Move It and Sam Twiston-Davies before flicking the switch at the second last, no more than a shake of the reins was required to keep Constitution Hill’s mind on his work as the duo swept clear around the final bend before pulling increasingly further away of their hapless rivals. “What a horse,” De Boinville said. “I’m just absolutely delighted. I thought he was just going to go in and pop [the final hurdle] but he’s come up out of my hands – he had loads left!”
Long before this win, Henderson had labelled his horse “the most extraordinary creature I’ve ever come across”, a description that came as quite the claim from a trainer who enjoyed his first taste of victory 45 years ago and has had 74 Festival winners since. An extraordinary creature who hasn’t always been straightforward, the six-year-old gelding took some time to showcase the undeniable talents that have already catapulted him into the hurdling pantheon so early in a career that is preposterously rich with future possibilities.
“For the first two months I thought he was absolutely useless,” said Henderson, after his famously laid back charge had bolted home in the Tolworth Novices’ Hurdle at Sandown two years ago. “When you press the button he goes but until you press that button you wouldn’t give me sixpence for him.”
Cheltenham 1.30 Hermes Allen (nb) 2.10 Gerri Colombe 2.50 San Salvador (nap) 3.30 Energumene 4.10 Delta Work 4.50 Dads Lad 5.30 Encanto Bruno
Huntingdon 1.50 Not Another Muddle 2.30 Moore Margaux 3.10 Feel Good Inc 3.50 Corey’s Courage 4.30 Enduring Love 5.10 Rock On Tommy 5.50 Westerninthepark
Newcastle 5.05 Land Legend 5.40 Arabian Storm 6.15 Mintnthat 6.45 Grand Libya 7.15 Walking On Clouds 7.45 South Dakota Sioux 8.15 Paddy K
Kempton 6.00 Maasai Mara 6.30 Woodstock 7.00 Brave Emperor 7.30 First Emperor 8.00 Hannah’s Return 8.30 Where’s Tom
Bought for £120,000 with one point-to-point outing on his CV, Constitution Hill is now a card-carrying national equine treasure, a status his custodian had acknowledged even before the starter raised the tapes. “We have been lucky enough to train a lot of nice horses,” Henderson said on the eve of the Festival. “When one of these sort of things come along you find yourself being the minder of a piece of public property.”
A much-loved one, if the raucous reception afforded to horse and rider from the grandstand and winner’s enclosure was anything to go by, the admiration palpable from a crowd blessed to be privy to one of those sporting “I was there” moments. Even the most intoxicated punter in the Guinness Village will have realised they witnessed something extremely special: an effortless but standout performance for the ages.
