Constitution Hill won comfortably as he made his Flat debut at Southwell. Get reaction to a rousing performance.
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1st CONSTITUTION HILL (6/4 favourite)
2nd Square Necker (9/4)
3rd Gambino (12/1)
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6/4 Constitution Hill, 9/4 Square Necker, 9/2 Daddy Long Legs, 5 Tripoli Flyer, 12/1 Bar
Not long low
Just before Oisin Murphy is legged up and update from owner and trainer via ITV4.
Michael Buckley: "I'm a lot more uptight than the horse is but it's exciting. Hopefully he'll have a happy time and we'll see how he copes with it all."
Nicky Henderson: "I honestly don't know what to expect. But it's great to see so many people want to come and see him here. I've had a chat with Oisin, he came and rode him the other day. From a riding point of view he's very straightforward."
All eyes on one horse
Vicki Gibbins' Constitution Hill parade ring verdict
Never a horse that impresses in the paddock, the word ‘plain’ could be easily attributed to Constitution Hill - he doesn’t have the star quality of some of his Seven Barrows counterparts. But that’s just him, and he looks well in himself today, well muscled behind and characteristically straightforward.
Live paddock updates
Latest betting on Constitution Hill
45 minutes out and he's just about favourite with most firms at around 6/4 and 13/8. Market rival Square Necker is a general 7/4 chance so it's tight - although there firms go 2/1 about the former champion hurdler as they look to take him on.
Tactics - what tactics?
Oisin Murphy has been speaking to racecourse presenter Roger Hart: about how he's going to ride Constituton Hill.
Well he nearly did, saying “Nicky hasn’t given me instructions yet. I rode Buzz for him in the Cesarewitch a couple of years ago and ignored them, but we won anyway. He’s probably given up.”
How many are at Southwell?
Well as of 18:30 - the attendance is 3520.
Dancers can't dance
Vicki Gibbins is our reporter on course. She reports the Cheerleaders are refusing to perform; too wet and they’ve got a competition next week
Constitution Hill is in the house
Constitution Hill is in the building 👊🏘️ pic.twitter.com/IhnxkImVqc
— ITV Racing (@itvracing) February 20, 2026
No-one knows Constitution Hill better than his groom Jaydon Hill and after arriving at Southwell with his pride and joy, he told Sky Sports Racing: “He takes it all in his stride. We’re very happy with how things are going at home and we’re all really excited. I think he’s very happy in himself, mentally he’s in a good place and physically he’s well too. Let’s see what happens.
“I don’t think today is the be all and end all. As long as he gets round and gets a nice confidence booster then we’ll all be happy.”
Oisin Murphy is already among the winners having partnered Wonder to a smooth victory in the 17:30 race. Looking ahead to his high-profile ride later on the card he said: “I sat on him about two weeks ago and he felt great. This looks a good spot for him so let’s see how he performs.
“It’s an interesting one, he’s drawn a big crowd and it’s nice to get the leg-up. I’d imagine it will be a new experience to him. He’s galloped at Kempton a lot before but not out of stalls and its not a weak race, there are some nice horses in there. So let’s see."
Will Constitution Hill win?
Our team of experts attempt to answer that question in this preview of the race.
Punting Pointers, our midweek racing tipping team, have also had their say.
What are the latest odds?
Constitution Hill was odds-on for the SBK Road To Cheltenham Novice Stakes earlier this week but has been on the drift and was around 7/4 with most bookmakers on Friday morning.
He is battling for favouritism with Square Necker, who is already proven on the all-weather.
Square Necker has assumed favouritism just before ITV began their broadcast and it's 6/1 and upwards the remainder.
What do connections say about today and Cheltenham?
Trainer Nicky Henderson says his 'mind changes every day' when it comes to Constitution Hill running at Cheltenham next month.
"It's a massive decision," he told Sky Sports Racing. "It's very important, there's a lot of emotional stuff hanging on the whole thing.
"It comes down to Michael (Buckley, owner) and myself, there's no point in passing the buck."
On his jumping, which has been worked on with Yogi Breisner, Henderson added: "He has been great, but it's not just that. On that score, I would be relatively confident, which might be hard to believe.
"It's the emotion of the whole thing. My mind changes every day."
Champion jockey Oisin Murphy is elated at the prospect of riding such a talented horse.
"Constitution Hill is a superstar, but unfortunately the last few races haven't gone to plan for him," Murphy told the Racing Post.
"He felt great when I rode him and it's great that he’s trying this and that I'm getting the leg-up. I'm very grateful to Michael Buckley and Nicky Henderson for allowing me to ride him. It’s a privilege.
"On what he's achieved already and on his work at home, you’d expect him to run a very good race. I'm not concerned about a wide draw. I wouldn't have minded any draw."
Mullins: We'd like some of the prize money
The Willie Mullins team is taking Constitution Hill on with Daddy Long Legs, the mount of Ryan Moore, and assistant trainer Patrick Mullins told Sporting Life: "We had Daddy Long Legs pencilled in for the stable staff charity race that Jump Allen won, but when that got put back we said we might as well run for £40,000 as honour and glories.
"It's great prize money and obviously a race with a lot of publicity.
"Look, I think if Constitution Hill turns up he'll come home alone – all those good Champion Hurdle winners we had would be well able to hold their own on the Flat. So we're going more so to get some nice prize-money and just to make sure he doesn't get too easy time of it."
Paul Nicholls wondering what it will achieve...
Speaking in his Betfair blog, Paul Nicholls says it will be good to witness Constitution Hill in action but has questioned what connections will actually learn from the whole thing.
He said: "There has been plenty of publicity about Constitution Hill running on the Flat on Friday this week. I'm different to Nicky Henderson, who is obviously a fantastic trainer, in that, if Constitution Hill were my horse, I would have run him in the Kingwell Hurdle at Wincanton last weekend.
"I know he has had a fall but if you are thinking about running him in the Champion Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival next month, if he had cantered around Wincanton he would probably have won with his head in his chest and it would have done him good.
"What will be achieved by running him on the Flat, I don't know. Nicky is in a no-win situation in that, if Constitution Hill wins great, if he doesn't win, they will all be crabbing him. But Nicky knows what he is doing so you have to trust him and his belief in his horse.
"There is a lot of hype about nothing really. It is good to see Constitution Hill out there again, but you are not going to learn anything about him by running him on the Flat.
"Remember, he ran in a point-to-point and got beat. He is by Blue Bresil and you do not see too many Blue Bresil’s win on the Flat, but he is a high-class horse so let's see what happens. Would I have ever sent one of my hurdling stars on the Flat ahead of the Cheltenham Festival? Definitely not. If Big Buck's, say, had run on the Flat over a mile-and-a-half we would still be looking for him.
"It would not surprise me if Constitution Hill were to run in the Champion Hurdle, but whether he will win I don't know. He has got to get over two or three falls, but he is still a class horse and will probably be the best horse in the field. There is a lot of pressure on Nicky and racing for him to run.
"That said, I do have a runner in tonight's race. Nardaran has been working away, he can't run on soft ground, so we have been waiting for better ground and may be waiting for a while yet. He has had a run on the Flat so we thought we would let him have a day out, go and enjoy himself. If he gets placed, we will be delighted."
More on Constitution Hill
How do you go about pricing up the Southwell race?
Dan Barber on the comparisons between Constitution Hill and Sprinter Sacre
David Ord on the major decision facing connections
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