Social media and certain pundits may have “retired” Constitution Hill twice this autumn but Nicky Henderson’s outstanding seven-year-old proved he is still the one to beat by winning the Ladbrokes Christmas Hurdle – and led his jockey to call out some who had got it so wrong.
The pundit in the spotlight was former Cheltenham Gold Cup-winning jockey Paddy Brennan, who declared on Sky Sports Racing that: “I can’t see him [Constitution Hill] coming back to a peak. No, just no. I think it’s impossible to beat something like Lossiemouth the way things stand today.”
That prediction was made to look foolish as Nico de Boinville guided his charge to a comprehensive victory, before the jockey made his point in blunt fashion.
“He felt fantastic,” he said. “He’s going to improve an awful lot. There is still a bit of ring rustiness after a year or so. I think all the credit has to go to the guv’nor because that is some training performance. It’s been a long time coming and definitely worth the wait.”
He paused and then added: “And one more thing. Paddy Brennan, you can shove that where the sun don’t shine!”
That just underlined what a win this was for a horse who had not raced for exactly a year after a series of unfortunate events including a cough, mild colic, and a poor racecourse gallop at Newbury in November. Now, though, make no mistake – Constitution Hill is back sprinkling star dust over the two-mile hurdle division.
His big rival, the Irish mare Lossiemouth, was getting a 7lb mares’ weight advantage and had the benefit of a previous start this season but her three previous starts were all over two-and-a-half miles and she seemed to find the strong pace set by Burdett Road plenty quick enough over the first half mile.
Though Paul Townend professed afterwards to having never having been happy with her she warmed into it but never got closer to the popular winner than two-and-a-half lengths at the finish. Constitution Hill, however, had a good blow going to the last in the race and a long one afterwards and it would be very surprising if he did not improve a lot for his first run for a year.
“He is him,” said an emotional Henderson, winning the race for the 13th time. “The great thing is that he’s back and, I think, very nearly as good as he was. Nico said he had a good blow going to the last and he was entitled to – they went a Grade one gallop in that. There should be a lot of improvement to come from that.
“Everyone at home has played their part in the jigsaw of getting him back; it’s been entertaining. We’ve done a lot of things differently and some of it’s been a bit of a struggle but the last three weeks it’s been very good. The Newbury gallop wasn’t what we were hoping for but, in a way it may have helped. It forced us to miss the Fighting Fifth and get him ready for this.
“I was preparing for defeat and hoping with normal improvement we could turn it round at Cheltenham. I’d like to see how he has taken the race before deciding if we go again before the Champion. I’d like to but if he says ‘no’ we’ll go straight there. Horses like him don’t come around very often, he’s seriously talented.”
It was a former human rather than equine pupil of Henderson’s, Ben Pauling, who took the Ladbrokes Kauto Star Novice Chase with The Jukebox Man, a first Grade One winner for jockey Bern Jones and owner Harry Redknapp.
Greater character that he is, Redknapp really has a horse to go to war with now after The Jukebox Man beat Hyland a fairly untroubled two and a half lengths. Having had to deal with the six-year-old’s cracked heels, Pauling will now take The Jukebox Man straight to Cheltenham in March.
