Constitution Hill has had two intense schooling sessions as Nicky Henderson contemplates whether to pursue an ambition to run in the Champion Hurdle.
The most famous horse in training has not run since he fell at Newcastle on November 29 – it was his third tumble in his last four starts and it left many wondering whether he would ever fulfil his potential as a jumper.
Henderson is hoping Constitution Hill will get a much-needed confidence boost when he runs in an all-weather flat race at Southwell on February 20. The eight-year-old has been put through starting stalls at Seven Barrows this week and it looks increasingly likely that Oisin Murphy, the Champion Jockey, will take the high-profile ride: he sat on Constitution Hill this week.
But it is the fact Henderson has been schooling Constitution Hill that will intrigue National Hunt fans. He won the Champion Hurdle in 2023, missed the 2024 renewal due to illness before falling in last year’s running.
The British Horseracing Authority (BHA) remain in discussions with Henderson over how Consistution Hill is training and the plan is for him to do more schooling.
‘He’s had a confusing week!’ Henderson said. ‘He schooled with Yogi Breisner (jumping specialist) on Monday; he went through the stalls and had a gallop with Oisin on Wednesday and then Yogi came back again.
Nicky Henderson is hoping Constitution Hill will get a much-needed confidence boost when he runs at Southwell later this month
‘He is doing everything with him, so it was jump-flat-jump for him. He is going great. We are doing lots of jumping. Yogi is there because he is the guru for jumping in this country. We are playing around with him (to get his confidence).
‘The only thing in our minds in terms of a race is Southwell – and only Southwell. We’ll see what happens there.’
Provided Newbury is not subjected to a deluge overnight, Henderson will run Lulumba in the Game Spirit Chase (245pm) as his final tune up for the Arkle Chase at Cheltenham on March 10, for which he is the hot ante-post favourite.
‘I want him to get experience,’ said Henderson. ‘We were going to run Jango Baie in the Denman Chase but the ground isn’t right. It just seems the right thing to do for Lulumba, it’s close to home and I’ve got a few runners. We’ll see how we go.’
