Constitution Hill prepares for Punchestown Champion Hurdle with spin over four fences

The hugely talented eight-year-old has fallen on his last two starts at Cheltenham and Aintree but is bang on course to try and set the record straight in the Boodles Champion Hurdle at Punchestown this Friday.

He did his final serious bit of work on Friday and James Bowen has now schooled the horse over a few fences at Seven Barrows.

Henderson was keen to stress that Constitution Hill will not be going chasing any time soon, however.

He said in a statement posted to X: "Constitution Hill jumped four fences on our Canter Carpet schooling strip this morning with James Bowen on top.

"Everything went extremely well and I couldn’t be happier with his condition. Nothing whatsoever should be read into the fact he schooled over fences, he is definitely NOT going down that route, but after discussing it with Nico, Michael, James and myself we decided this was the best thing to do.

"It was a brave decision but they are only baby fences and we hope it works.

"I’m also pleased to report that Jonbon has come out of the Sandown in good form. He’s understandably quite tired, but he’s been to every party and is such a warrior.

"It was unfortunate he bumped into a fresh horse but he beat Energumene and Edwardstone like he did at Ascot and if he was going to get beaten by anyone, it was always going to be by a Willie Mullins horse.

"That is, however, not in any way to detract from what a remarkable training performance it was. Well done, Willie; see you at Punchestown!"

More from Sporting Life

• Free bets
• Racecards
• Fast results
• Full results and free video replays
• Horse racing news
• Horse racing tips
• Horse racing features
• Download our free iOS and Android app
• Football and other sports tips
• Podcasts and video content

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.