Constitution Hill moves well at Kempton

Constitution Hill entered for the Gold Cup at Royal Ascot

By Sporting Life

Horse Racing

Tue April 29, 2025 · 8M ago

Top two mile hurdler Constitution Hill has been handed an entry for the Gold Cup at Royal Ascot.

Explaining the decision, owner Michael Buckley told the Nick Luck Daily podcast: "We talked about it a little bit ago. It has been something that has popped up now again.

"But then after the Champion Hurdle it wasn't the right year, it had taken quite a lot out of him, and last year he was sick. So this is the first time it was something to at least ponder and the only way you could do that is to enter, so it will be something amusing to think about on any dull days over the next six weeks."

When asked if he believed Constitution Hill would prove as effective on the flat, Buckley replied: "I don't know. I think he'd be fine.

"He works well enough on the flat and Nicky's had odd visits from other trainers who wanted to take their horses away and seen a Gold Cup contender or two who have been to Seven Barrows to work. So he's seen what other horses do. There was one that appeared there early on in Constitution Hill's life and he didn't look extraordinarily better than Constitution Hill and he actually finished second [in the Gold Cup].

"We're hoping to run this week [at Punchestown] all being well and we'll see where we go. There are a lot of imponderables here and, inevitably, I wouldn't be very keen on running if it was rock hard ground so we're going to need a few things to go in our favour, not only the horses's wellbeing but also the weather."

Constitution Hill warmed up for his run in the Boodles Champion Hurdle by schooling over fences but Buckley was quick to scotch any suggestion that a chasing campaign would be on the agenda.

"I don't think so really," he said. "I don't think we're toying with the idea of going over fences.

"I feel somewhat embarrassed talking about how good a hurdler he is after falling twice in a row but he is an incredibly talented horse and we always said right at the beginning, it would be easy for him to jump fences.

"The only reason he jumped baby fences was to get him in the air a bit more and because the hurdles at Nicky's are on the grass and the grass was too firm and these are on matting so he could actually school over them.

"When he manages to stand up he seems to be about the best hurdler around so why not stick at that?"

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