Constitution Hill’s odds DRIFT for Fighting Fifth and Champion Hurdle after underwhelming gallop at Newbury

1 month ago 6

CONSTITUTION HILL was a big drifter in the Champion Hurdle betting after an underwhelming gallop at Newbury on Tuesday.

The bookies pushed him out to 3-1 from 7-4 after younger stablemate Sir Gino worked all over him at a Coral-sponsored gallops morning.

two horses are racing on a track and one has the number 9 on its back

Constitution Hill had to be ‘booted’ along by Nico de Boinville[/caption]

He has now been leapfrogged in the Cheltenham antepost betting by Willie Mullins’ mare Lossiemouth, who finds herself favourite for the Champion Hurdle without having to set foot outside of her box.

There were initially some long faces after Constitution Hill’s lap of Newbury as Nicky Henderson, Nico de Boinville and owner Michael Buckley gathered for a debrief.

The seven-year-old loomed up going nicely at the top of the straight but came off the bridle two furlongs down and couldn’t go with the strong-travelling Sir Gino.

But a cup of tea and bacon roll later, Hendo perked up and insisted he was pleased with how the gallop went.

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He said: “We needed to get the work into him and the rain came and turned the ground soft. He had a good blow afterwards but that was the reason we came here.

“Don’t underestimate Sir Gino, he is a machine and he is the only horse we have who could do that to Constitution Hill.

“You have got to get it out of your head that he has been missing, and people keep asking “will he come back?” He hasn’t been anywhere!

“Sprinter Sacre had a bad heart, he was ill for a year and a half. That was a comeback. This horse isn’t coming back. He ran at Christmas!

“It’s still there. He is ready for action.”

He is still on course to make his long-awaited return in the Fighting Fifth Hurdle next Saturday – for which he has also been eased out to 13-8 from a shade of odds-on.

Champion trainer Mullins, who is just beginning to take the wraps off his team of stars, will likely to take him on with Mystical Power (3-1 into 7-4) at Newcastle.

There is undoubtedly an air of vulnerability around Constitution Hill now that wasn’t there this time last year.

He had to miss Trials Day at Cheltenham back in January through illness, and then the wheels fell off spectacularly after his infamous gallop-gone-wrong at Kempton in February.

Subsequent tests revealed he was suffering with a chest infection which kept him out for the rest of the season, and to top it off he suffered a bout of colic in the spring.

A combative Hendo continued: “He had a few things go wrong, but dirty scopes and colic are all part and parcel in this game.

“He hasn’t died, he hasn’t been injured, he just missed a race. He doesn’t have anything to prove.

“I don’t see any reason why he would be any different to the horse we saw win impressively at Kempton last Christmas.”

Given how impressive Sir Gino has looked so far, it’s no surprise Hendo has left the door open to having a Champion Hurdle campaign with him this season, should anything go wrong with Constitution Hill.

As it stands, though, he is still scheduled to make his chasing debut at Kempton on Monday.

Hendo added: “It’s the race we started Altior and Shishkin. He has been very, very good over fences at home.

“He is a serious horse. He was the tragedy of last year, that he couldn’t go to Cheltenham for the Triumph. He is as good a four-year-old as I have seen.

“If he was ever required, for any unfortunate reason, he is there for the Champion Hurdle. Remember, he has the same owner as State Man, so even if something happened to him I would think he would get a call.”