Nicky Henderson has revealed Constitution Hill is yet to school over fences as connections consider how to campaign him next year - but his stable superstar will give racegoers a treat by joining Shishkin in the ‘Parade of Champions’ at Sandown on Saturday.
The Seven Barrows duo have both enjoyed seasons to remember, with Constitution Hill extending his unbeaten start under Rules to a perfect seven from seven - capped by a breath-taking successes in the Unibet Champion Hurdle and William Hill Aintree Hurdle - and Shishkin winning twice at Grade One level since the turn of the year, scoring in the Betfair Ascot Chase and Alder Hey Aintree Bowl.
The pair will be joined by several big names from this season, with the parade due to take place immediately after the first race, which is due off at 1.05.
Henderson revealed that he was looking forward to giving his star pair one last day out before the summer.
He said: “They’re both in fantastic form after Aintree and ran really well, so we’re looking forward to Saturday now. It’s great that Sandown have invited us down for it - we don’t get a lot of opportunities to do so apart from racing and various open days and things like that. People seem to really enjoy it.
“There were plenty who came to see Constitution Hill on the Lambourn Open Day, the place was heaving! He’s really popular with the public and that’s the surprising thing I suppose because he’s done it in such a short space of time. He’s only had a small number of runs in his life compared to what Sprinter Sacre and Altior had, but he does it rather spectacularly and I think people have really just taken to him.
“This will be their last day out and then they’ll go on their holidays, they’re only waiting to do this on Saturday and then they’ll be off!”
Henderson confirmed at the end of last month that he would look to school Constitution Hill over fences before he takes an end of season break, ready to begin putting plans in place for next season.
However, he revealed that the six year old is yet to be tested over the larger obstacles at home. He continued: “We haven’t tried him yet, to be honest with you we’ve all been away at Cheltenham and then Ayr. We only ran him about 10 days ago, so if anything we might think about it soon but the ground is probably a bit fast at the moment.
“I should think we’ll go to Sandown on Saturday with him and then we’ll see. The weather is a bit unpredictable at the minute.”
Meanwhile, Henderson added that the Ladbrokes King George VI Chase was almost certainly on Shishkin’s radar next term, after he relished the step up to 3m 1f when mowing down Ahoy Senor to win the Grade One Alder Hey Aintree Bowl.
He said: “It was a good race and to be fair to poor old Ahoy Senor he’d fallen in the Gold Cup on his last start, so we felt a bit naughty beating him really! Lucinda (Russell) went on to have a great week though winning the Grand National, so we’re all happy.
“You’ve got to say now that we’ve tried Shishkin over three (miles) and he’s not a two miler now, we learned that the day he ran in the Tingle Creek. He then won the Ascot Chase over 2m 5f and got into a bit of a muddle at Cheltenham, but he came back really well after that. He jumped beautifully at Aintree and showed he stays the trip and battles well, so he clearly has a lot of ability.”
More from Sporting Life
Safer gambling
We are committed in our support of safer gambling. Recommended bets are advised to over-18s and we strongly encourage readers to wager only what they can afford to lose.
If you are concerned about your gambling, please call the National Gambling Helpline / GamCare on 0808 8020 133.
Further support and information can be found at begambleaware.org and gamblingtherapy.org
