Ben Linfoot ponders the options for the new Sky Bet Supreme favourite Constitution Hill, who has usurped stablemate Jonbon in the betting after a brilliant Tolworth win.
On a day of atrocious weather at Sandown, with Willie Mullins and Paul Nicholls having three odds-on favourites beaten between them at various tracks in Britain and Ireland, the Unibet Tolworth Novices’ Hurdle began to have a bit of a banana-skin look about it for CONSTITUTION HILL.
After all, when he announced himself as a novice out of the top-drawer with a debut win under Rules at the same track 35 days previously, the ground was Good to Soft and he left his 135-rated rival Might I for dead with a scintillating burst of speed after the last.
Would that weapon be blunted on heavy ground against a bunch of rivals whose predominant collective strength was staying power?
The emphatic answer was no, don’t be silly. Constitution Hill won with a commanding performance, 12 lengths better than the runner-up Jetoile and it could’ve been more as he was eased down late on.
In control of the race at every stage, a major strength looks to be how tractable he is, a simple ride, relaxing so well and jumping fluently at every obstacle. This was hurdling by numbers and Constitution Hill made it all look so easy.
Sent off the 2/5 favourite, he simply had too much class, too much speed for his toiling rivals. Jetoile was dropping back from 2m4f, Mr Glass from 2m6f, and they were made to look pedestrian by an out-and-out two-miler as they came home second and third, beaten 12 and six-and-a-half lengths, respectively.
Shallwehaveonemore, considered the biggest threat to the winner by the market at 11/2, pulled too hard again, another son of Authorized trained by Gary Moore with his own ideas about the game, although he has some way to go before he turns into Goshen II.
That Constitution Hill went on the ground wasn’t too much of a surprise. His sire, Blue Bresil, is renowned for producing progeny who handle soft ground well, the likes of Royal Pagaille, Le Prezien, Mario De Pail and one of this season’s most exciting two-mile novice chasers, Blue Lord, are evidence of that.
But you get the feeling that whatever the ground it’s no issue to this horse. A familiar trait with the very best, you can add versatility to his growing list of attributes and it was no surprise to see the bookies cut him to Sky Bet Supreme Novices’ Hurdle favouritism without hesitation.
Sky Bet Supreme Novices' Hurdle (Cheltenham, March 15, 2022)
Sponsors betting (Odds correct 1630 GMT 08/01/22):
- Constitution Hill 2/1
- Jonbon 9/4
- Sir Gerhard 11/2
- Mighty Potter 14/1
- El Fabiolo 20/1, Dysart Dynamo 20/1, My Mate Mozzie 20/1
- 25/1 BAR.
- Click here for Unibet Tolworth Novices' Hurdle report
- Click here for Nicky Henderson's Tolworth reaction
A best of 9/4 (Betfair and Paddy Power) and as short as 11/8 (!!! 888Sport - you can't blame them, really...) for the Cheltenham Festival curtain raiser, it’s hard to believe there’s a better two-mile novice hurdler around than this fellow, although there is the possibility there’s one better than him stabled in the same yard.
It’s a shame Nicky Henderson was self-isolating with Covid-19 at Seven Barrows on Saturday, not least because it would’ve been fun to see his reaction on having such a strong hand for the Supreme. Of course, he wouldn’t have picked his favourite, but having seen Michael Buckley’s horse prove he wasn’t ‘just a flash in the pan’ we might’ve got an inkling about the pecking order just from one of his wonderful expressions. At least you can read his thoughts on the matter here.
As it is I think the market has got it right. Jonbon, 3/1 second favourite for the Supreme now, has looked extremely good himself, obviously, but even he hasn’t looked quite so devastatingly brilliant as Constitution Hill and his form has less substance, at this stage, too.
Where Henderson goes from here with the pair is interesting. He says he could go straight to Cheltenham with Constitution Hill, but another run might not be a bad idea.
It’s 66 days until the Supreme and 19 of the last 24 winners of the race had their prep for the Festival opener between now and then. Fourteen of those winners ran within 40 days. The last 13 winners had run at least three times over hurdles, too, and Constitution Hill has run just twice. A final tune-up might become very tempting when the dust has settled.
There are plenty of options Henderson knows well. Jonbon might be pencilled in for Haydock and the Sky Bet-sponsored Supreme trial that is the Rossington Main later this month, or the Contenders Hurdle at Sandown, but in February there is the Chantry House route (the Newbury novice hurdle on Betfair Hurdle day where he’d have to saddle a 10lb penalty), the Flown route (Henderson’s 1992 Supreme winner, the last winner of the Sky Bet Dovecote at Kempton to win at Cheltenham), or the Shishkin route (taking in the Sidney Banks Memorial over 2m3f at Huntingdon).
One thing he can’t do is the My Tent Or Yours route – taking in the Betfair Hurdle at Newbury. He needed to have three runs over hurdles by now to qualify for that, but runner-up Jetoile could well take his chance in the valuable handicap for Ryan Potter.
Likely to be rated in the low 130s when reassessed on Tuesday, that’ll see him get in the Betfair Hurdle towards the bottom of the weights (the entries are made next week) and he might just love a big-field handicap scenario where he gets a lead.
Agrapart and Kalashnikov both graduated from being beaten in the Tolworth to win the Betfair in recent years and, let’s face it, it would be no surprise to see Constitution Hill’s form boosted over the coming months. He looks a monster.
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