As Nicky Henderson commented on Constitution Hill's exercise gallop at Newbury on Tuesday morning, the betting markets offered a different perspective, adding another layer to the anticipation surrounding his highly-anticipated return to action at Newcastle in 11 days' time. The unbeaten winner of the 2023 Champion Hurdle finished half a length behind Sir Gino, his galloping companion, marking his first track visit since February. While Henderson stated post-exercise that "he's ready for action" and affirmed that the seven-year-old's immense talent "is still intact," the horse's odds shifted from odds-on to odds-against for the Fighting Fifth Hurdle on 30 November within an hour of crossing the finish line.
Perhaps the air was thick with too much expectation as Constitution Hill gears up for what could be a career-defining season, with many eager for a definitive sign that he will resume his winning ways, as seen in his effortless victory at Kempton's Christmas Hurdle last December. He did not pull five lengths ahead of Sir Gino with a tight rein, but that was never the plan. There were no visible signs of disappointment or concern from either Henderson or Nico de Boinville, Constitution Hill's regular jockey. Nevertheless, one bookmaker adjusted his odds from 4-7 to 13-8, making him the second-favorite for the Fighting Fifth, behind Willie Mullins's Mystical Power at 6-4, while his chances of winning a second Champion Hurdle in March have widened to 3-1 (from around 7-4).
Henderson was resolute that his stable star will have nothing to prove at Newcastle, despite an 11-month hiatus since his last competitive start and minor health issues including a bout of colic and a wind operation in the interim. "[Former stable star] Sprinter Sacre had a bad heart," Henderson noted. "This horse has had nothing wrong except for bad luck. There is nothing wrong with him." Henderson further explained that if surgery for colic is not required, it is inconsequential. The Fighting Fifth was canceled last year, and Constitution Hill went to Kempton at Christmas. He only missed one race, the Champion Hurdle. He hasn't been injured; he just missed a race. "You have to stop thinking he has been missing, or 'will he come back?' Sprinter had been ill for a year-and-a-half, that was a comeback. This horse isn't coming back, he ran at Christmas."
Henderson also highlighted Sir Gino, an unbeaten four-year-old already second-favorite for next year's Arkle Trophy Novice Chase without having jumped a fence in public, as "a machine" and "the only horse that can do that to Constitution Hill," which will undoubtedly heighten anticipation ahead of Sir Gino's planned debut over fences at Kempton on Monday. "He is serious," Henderson remarked. "He was the tragedy of last season, that he could go to Cheltenham [for the Triumph Hurdle in March]. That is as good a four-year-old as I have seen. Shishkin, Altior, Sprinter Sacre, they all went over fences much later. He's four, but he's got the size and scope of a chaser and he has been brilliant schooling."
Constitution Hill was somewhat of a guest star among the horses exercising at Newbury on Tuesday, at an annual event to promote the track's Coral Gold Cup meeting on 29 and 30 November. Among the likely runners at the meeting on display was Paul Nicholls's Caldwell Potter, a €740,000 (£620,000) acquisition for a syndicate that includes Sir Alex Ferguson, the former Manchester United manager, at a major dispersal sale earlier in the year. He could make his debut for Nicholls in a novice chase at Newbury on Friday. "I'm glad we didn't run him in the spring, he's a different animal now," Nicholls said. "He's had a nice prep, looks good and we are itching to get him going."
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