They were two of the biggest stories of the 2022 Cheltenham Festival. One for a jaw-dropping victory, the other an equally remarkable defeat.
Constitution Hill’s Sky Bet Supreme success was gained through a performance of the ages, a 22-length defeat of Jonbon producing a Timeform rating of 177+, the highest ever for a novice hurdler.
Here was National Hunt racing’s new poster boy. It seemed only a matter of time before he went on to underline his potential status as the best two-mile hurdler of all time. It was all there – ahead of him.
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In Galopin Des Champs’ case, that March was a story of one that got away. He was about to hit a similar number as he tore a widening 11 lengths clear of Bob Olinger in the Turners Novices’ Chase only to crumple on landing after flying over the final fence.
Everyone was left scratching their head afterwards, the fortunate winner's trainer Henry De Bromhead summing up the feelings of most when saying: “I didn’t think I’d ever see a horse that would make Bob look like that...”
It was the Irish team that had a rebuild on their hand – all Nicky Henderson and Michael Buckley needed from here was a clear run and a bit of luck. We all know how that played out.
While the retirement of Galopin Des Champs had long been expected and was confirmed by Willie Mullins and his owners last week, his shock death five days later came as a truly sickening blow to those closest to him or who grew to love him over the years.
From the slithering fall of 2022, he just flew higher and higher. Two Boodles Cheltenham Gold Cups, three Irish Gold Cups, two Savills Chases, a John Durkan, a Punchestown Gold Cup. He was ruthlessly brilliant.
The only blot on the dance card came in the 2025 Gold Cup when he was all set to join the immortals by winning the race for a third time only to be run down by Inothewayurthinkin. Even on that afternoon, when he went without his customary zest and jumped stickily, he was still taking the fight to the rest until the winner swept past and produced a performance he hasn't come close to repeating since.
Cheltenham fleetingly fell silent for five or six seconds after the final fence that afternoon. It was in sharp contrast to the celebrations that had gone before, the euphoric reaction at Leopardstown earlier in the year when he won a third Irish Gold Cup was unlike anything I've experienced before or since.
And when Ruby Walsh's statement revealed his sad passing on Tuesday evening, I was immediately reminded of Mullins’ words at the press conference following Gaelic Warrior’s own Gold Cup success in March, when an absent friend was still very much in the trainer's thoughts.
“When Galopin Des Champs’ injury happened, I was disappointed for about ten seconds. Then I said he won two Gold Cups, a lot of fantastic races for us. My glass is inclined to be half-full. If it’s half-empty in this game, you won’t last too long. I look back on the good days with Galopin,” he smiled.
“I had to ring Greg (Turley) to tell him the news. I was just in the hospital getting an MRI or something and I was on the table, and I said to the nurse ‘I have to make one phone call’.
"She was saying ‘put away your phone, put away your phone’ but I said I have to make this one call. And Greg took it so well. When I rang him back an hour later, the two of us were of exactly the same opinion.
“We looked at all the good days we had, the great days with him. When people are lucky to have a good horse, you have to enjoy them. Don’t be disappointed the day they get injured or retire, enjoy them while you can. We enjoy the days we win.”
And Henderson and Michael Buckley had plenty of those with Constitution Hill too, an unbeaten run that stretched to ten starts and included the 2023 Unibet Champion Hurdle, two Christmas Hurdles and an Aintree Hurdle.
Even after a year off he was still king of his castle – his demolition of Lossiemouth at Kempton on Boxing Day 2024 underlined the fact. But then the wheels came off.
The fall in that season’s Champion Hurdle was the first of four in five starts. An asset that had once been a key strength, now a glaring weakness. Suddenly, inexplicably, he’d started to guess at hurdles. It was likened to a golfer developing the yips, a darts player suffering dartitis. Something that seemed so natural before, was now anything but.
Even after his winning debut on the Flat at Southwell in February, there was still a temptation to have a shot at the Champion Hurdle. It seemed from the outside looking in that Buckley was keener than Henderson but a schooling session five days after his facile success under Oisin Murphy, finally brought the curtain down on that phase of his career.
Speaking to Lee Mottershead in the Racing Post last month, the trainer recalled: "He had jumped hundreds and hundreds of hurdles without putting a foot wrong. This time, though, he did the same thing he had done in his falls, with the one leg not following the other at the second hurdle. Thankfully, he didn't fall but he got it all wrong. Then, at the next hurdle, he did it again, at which point Nico pulled him up. That was it."
"I don't think we can do this," De Boinville is reported to have said.
Now Constitution Hill's name appears among 101 entries for the Lexus Melbourne Cup.
As I write, he's around 24 hours away from a run in the William Hill September Stakes which Henderson admits “is going to tell us everything”.
He needs to finish in the first three to keep the Australian dream alive, produce a career best on the Flat by six or seven pounds at least not to finish second last.
We’ll know an awful lot more on Saturday afternoon about where this story heads from here. Is it heritage handicaps in the UK? Pattern races? Australia?
Buckley would like to travel, according to the trainer, and the horse has seemingly passed all the required veterinary tests so far to keep his hat in the ring.
But what if he falls short? What if he finishes fifth, sixth or seventh at Kempton and we’ve found his level? After all, he’s nine, rising ten. He might sharpen up, become more accustomed to the demands of the Flat game, but he’s not going to find 20 pounds of improvement at the same time.
Does it matter where he goes from here? People flock to the tracks to see him. He’s good for traffic and social media engagement for all racing websites, our own included.
The Melbourne Cup still seems a remarkable Hail Mary - and, of late, Constitution Hill hasn’t been very good at holding onto those. But that doesn’t mean defeat at Kempton closes every door. If anything it should open even more.
Clearly, he’s a horse who likes racing, who is about to find his level on the Flat. And if there is a genuine interest in the Melbourne Cup, that points to a belated, more aggressive, approach.
At his age what is there to lose? What are we waiting for?
Let the dust settle on Kempton and plan ahead, be aggressive, run more often, go pot hunting in the spring and autumn. Let him race and as a great man once suggested, enjoy it when you win.
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