Alex Hammond column: Constitution Hill at Southwell preview

By Alex Hammond

Horse Racing

Wed February 18, 2026 · 38 min ago

Our columnist is back to answer our questions ahead of the weekend and of course 'that' Friday night race at Southwell.

What were your highs and lows from the past seven days in racing?

My high came at Ascot on Saturday. I’m usually full of gratitude for the job I have but when you are at a world-class venue, watching top-class chasers do proper battle and the outcome is thoroughly satisfactory, then that cup runneth over.

Jonbon isn't an all-time great, but he is a great horse and his 12th Grade One win was well earned. In Pic D’Orhy he had a rival with plenty in his favour, and he made Jonbon earn victory in the Betfair Ascot Chase. Harry Cobden got that extra 1% advantage when making Nico de Boinville go wider than ideal into the home straight, but Jonbon dug deep to hold off his rival by less than two lengths. It was a proper horserace.

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As for my low, well that came on the same card. We are not yet in 'cliff' territory yet, but No Ordinary Joe has become a bit of a pet project for me. He was having his second start after a wind operation in Ascot’s Betfair Exchange Handicap Hurdle, and I thought (again) that Saturday was his day.

The market showed I wasn't alone in thinking that the 2023 Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys’ Handicap Hurdle runner-up looked primed to win for the first time in over three years off a mark 15lbs lower than for that second place at the Cheltenham Festival almost three years ago.

I followed that hunch and went in at huge odds when he ran down the field at Windsor’s Winter Million fixture and took another chance at Ascot that he could get his head back in front. He tanked into the race at the weekend but once again following him was a rollercoaster ride and despite hitting the front around the home bend he got run out of the placings late on.

I've taken my jeweller’s eyepiece to the Cheltenham handicap entries and see he’s in both the County Hurdle and Martin Pipe (again), so I’ll be playing another game of No Ordinary High or Low Joe at Cheltenham for you!

Who is on your Randox Grand National shortlist following the unveiling of the weights?

At first glimpse, wouldn't it be marvellous for Mr Vango to win a Grand National? It's not beyond the realms of possibility and with a weight of just 10-12 allotted, he’ll feel like he’s running loose. He’s a 40/1 shot with Sky Bet. The quality of horse in the race is high though and whilst he’s an admirable stayer he’ll face some classy individuals. Given testing conditions though he’d be on my shortlist.

There’s been plenty of chat about Iroko and he’s as short as 6/1 favourite with the same firm after being given 11-1. He was fourth last year as a seven-year-old and he's in a great spot to improve on that, but at that price this far out, not for me.

Nicky Henderson with Constitution Hill

Constitution Hill has made the cut for Southwell on Friday night... what are you expecting to witness?

It’ll be exciting to see him and, on a few occasions, when I’ve worked with Mick Fitzgerald, who knows the horse well thanks to his association with the Henderson stable, and asked him about this horse’s ability to hold his own on the flat, he’s always answered in the affirmative (with a twinkle in his eye).

He’s going to have to stay well over this mile-and-a-half trip, which seems an odd thing to say for a winning two-and-a-half mile hurdler, but it’s not guaranteed.

It’ll be fascinating though because it’s so rare for a top-class hurdler to have a crack at a flat race. How many times have we speculated about how a Champion Hurdle-standard horse would fare on the level? It’s a rhetorical question and we have never really had the chance to know the answer.

It’s been a tense week though for all concerned with the will-he, won’t-he saga surrounding his participation, but we can relax now and see how it all plays out. I hope Constitution Hill hacks up and then gets sent to Royal Ascot! He’s 4/6 favourite with Sky Bet to win at Southwell.

READ: Who are Constitution Hill's main dangers?

Who do you fancy for the big handicap chases at Kempton and Newcastle this Saturday?

Did you know trainer Sam Thomas has a 34% strike-rate this season? This season, not over the past couple of weeks. Take that in.

It’s phenomenal to think he’s sustained that level of consistency since April. Why is that significant? Well, he’s responsible for Katate Dori who is 4/1 favourite to win Kempton’s Ladbrokes Trophy Handicap Chase.

Not only that, but he saddled Our Power to finish third in 2022, the same horse won the race in 2023, Al Dancer was second for the stable in 2024, and Katate Dori won it last year. That man knows about target training.

Katate Dori is 11lb higher in the weights than when successful twelve months ago, but he showed plenty of sparkle when runner-up to Heracles Westwood at Cheltenham on New Year's Day off just 1lb lower than he’ll run off on Saturday. He's hard to ignore.

Rising Dust has been improving for trainer Emmet Mullins and bookies won’t want to take a chance on him. He’s three from three over fences for this stable.

Leader In The Park owes me one, or two. He steps up to this three mile trip for the first time and whilst I don’t have huge confidence in the horse nowadays, there’s no doubt trainer Ben Pauling is enjoying a purple patch, and you wouldn't want to overlook much from the stable at the present time. He's a 14/1 shot. However, he may have to play second fiddle to stablemate Henry's Friend who is the same price. The horse Ben Jones picks of that duo is the one to side with.

Over at Newcastle the feature is the Virgin Bet Daily Extra Places Eider Handicap Chase. Guess who is responsible for Sky Bet’s 7/2 favourite, Jubilee Express? Sam Thomas. This horse has finished second in a Welsh National when behind Val Dancer, who is also entered in Saturday’s contest and is a 12/1 shot.

Venetia is back! Venetia Williams has endured a torrid season but had a double at Wincanton on Saturday, so let’s hope that revival continues. She has Tanganyika amongst the entries and he's now on a 5lb lower mark than the rating he started the season off.

That’s due to three sub-par efforts but he’s only 1lb higher in the weights than when runner-up to Mr Vango in the Midlands National at Uttoxeter back in March.

Mr Vango is 11lbs higher since that one length victory over that rival. To unravel that slightly complicated equation, he’s not badly handicapped and if he can recapture that Uttoxeter form should run well. He’s 16/1 with Sky Bet. There are plenty of horses you can make a case for but those are the horses I want to note at this stage.

Published at 11:30 GMT on 18/02/26

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