Phil Turner on Constitution Hill's Newcastle fall and Timeform's reaction to it

Small fields have been the scourge of the British Jumps season so far, with a succession of uncompetitive maiden chases this autumn (including several walk-overs!) a particularly embarrassing state of affairs.

There are occasions when less is more, though. Much-anticipated clashes between star performers can often prove very popular betting heats despite a lack of numbers. Indeed, two of the most famous races in the history of Irish and American racing were matches – Dawn Run v Buck House at Punchestown in 1986 and Seabiscuit v War Admiral in 1938.

Obviously they were rare events which came about due to some sporting connections of the horses involved, but it’s still desirable to frame a racing programme which can produce similar high-profile clashes.

For example, the nine renewals of Newcastle’s Fighting Fifth Hurdle from 1972 to 1980 averaged under six runners per year yet the race was regularly appointment viewing, with the top hurdlers during a golden era repeatedly taking each other on.

The 1975 Fighting Fifth is a case in point. It attracted just four runners and one of them was a 200/1 no-hoper to boot. The remaining trio, however, were three of the biggest names the sport has produced – namely Night Nurse, Comedy of Errors and Sea Pigeon, who would end their careers with a total of six Champion Hurdle wins between them (plus three seconds, a third and two fourth-placed finishes in the Cheltenham race).

The eight-year-old Comedy of Errors had landed his second Champion Hurdle win the previous March and, although race conditions in those days meant he was conceding weight to his two younger rivals, he was sent off the 11/10-on favourite in pursuit of a fourth straight Fighting Fifth win.

Next in the betting at 6/4 was four-year-old Night Nurse, who’d been one of the previous season’s leading juveniles and had begun that autumn with impressive wins at Chepstow and Newbury (where he’d numbered 1974 Champion Hurdle winner Lanzarote and Sea Pigeon among his victims). The year-older Sea Pigeon, meanwhile, was a classy recruit from the Flat just out of the novice ranks and didn’t go unsupported at 11/2 on the back of a good win at Newbury himself.

The race signalled a changing of the guard, with bold-jumping front runner Night Nurse never headed and defeating the favourite with more to spare than the two-and-a-half-length winning margin, with a further two lengths back to Sea Pigeon in third. He would beat Comedy of Errors twice more in 1975/76 during an unbeaten eight-race campaign, including when claiming the first of his two Champion Hurdle wins – Comedy of Errors was back in fourth, whilst Sea Pigeon sat out the Cheltenham Festival that year through injury.

This year’s Fighting Fifth also attracted a field of less than six, yet it was the most eagerly-awaited race for some time, featuring two previous Champion Hurdle winners plus a hitherto unbeaten pair from the leading yards on either side of the Irish Sea.

Alas, the race didn’t live quite up to expectations in form terms but it was certainly dramatic, with market leaders Constitution Hill (h166x) and The New Lion(h156p) crashing out in spectacular fashion, whilst third favourite Anzadam (h151) flattered to deceive in the dash for home. All of which paved the way for reigning champion hurdler Golden Ace (h148) to pick up the pieces in eerily similar fashion as at Cheltenham back in March.

Jumps racing’s most famous fluke winner Foinavon also had a déjà vu moment after his 100/1 victory in the 1967 Grand National, where he’d been set to finish tailed off until left clear during a pile-up at the twenty-third fence.

His final career win at Uttoxeter eighteen months later came via another set of freakish circumstances – after two of the six runners had unseated their riders and another had fallen, Foinavon came to the penultimate fence held in third, only to be left clear when the leader fell and carried out the horse in second.

The comparisons with Foinavon end there, however, as Golden Ace is a smart performer with many decent wins to her name without the aid of fallers and her connections deserve plenty of credit for taking on the big guns again, particularly as today’s race came just four weeks on from an extremely rare off-day on her reappearance.

That said, the proximity of 40/1-shot Nemean Lion (h151) in third, beaten just under two lengths, limits the view that can be taken of form and the likelihood is she didn’t need to improve upon the rating she posted when runner-up to the sidelined State Man at Punchestown in May.

Lucky or not, Golden Ace’s presence added plenty to today’s race and it’s to be hoped that she’s in the field to defend her crown at Cheltenham next March. Trainer Jeremy Scott admitted beforehand that the decision to run today was partly due to a shortage of other options for her at this time of year.

Frustratingly, that isn’t always the case later in the season, where an oversaturation of races at some of the big Spring Festivals means high-profile horses can often dodge each other – previous Champion Hurdle winners Honeysuckle and Epatante both swerved Constitution Hill in 2023 to tackle the David Nicholson Mares Hurdle instead, a route that Lossiemouth also followed this year.

Connections of the big three today can take some solace from the fact defeat in the Fighting Fifth isn’t always the end of the world, as Night Nurse himself proved in 1976/77 when he bounced back from a 15-length thumping at Newcastle by the mercurial Bird’s Nest to claim a second Champion Hurdle win, finishing that campaign with a Timeform rating of 182 – which remains the highest ever awarded to a hurdler.

Indeed, the chances are today’s spill by The New Lion will prove no more than a blip, particularly as he’d probably have shaded the verdict had he stood up. Admittedly, it would have been a workmanlike success had he held on, though Harry Skelton’s race plan was rather scuppered by Constitution Hill’s early fall as The New Lion didn’t look at home making his own running, even briefly shaping to run out around halfway. He’ll presumably revert to more patient tactics next time and remains with potential as a Champion Hurdle prospect.

Anzadam was in much deeper water than previously and was found wanting when coming off the bridle (just about the first time he’s been under pressure), but remains likely to win his fair share even if today’s defeat places him a bit down the Willie Mullins pecking order.

What the future holds for Constitution Hill is another matter altogether, though. Nicky Henderson’s stable star is one of only a handful of two-mile hurdlers over the past 45 years to have achieved a comparable Timeform rating to that illustrious 1975 trio, his peak figure of 177 putting him 2 lb ahead of Sea Pigeon’s best figure and 1 lb below Comedy of Errors.

To many observers, it seemed inevitable a few years ago that Constitution Hill would even surpass Night Nurse’s record Timeform rating of 182 at some stage, but his stuttering career since then means that is most unlikely to happen now.

Top hurdlers have little margin for error due to their rapid jumping technique so it’s inevitable some will fall from time to time - Night Nurse, for example, is widely regarded as one of the most fluent jumpers of all time, yet even he suffered a terrible fall in the 1977 Christmas Hurdle at Kempton, one which ended the career of his regular jockey Paddy Broderick. Sea Pigeon, like Constitution Hill, also hit the floor three times during his jumping career, but those falls were sporadic and not of huge concern.

By contrast, mistakes crept into Istabraq’s repertoire late in his career, two last-flight falls from his final five starts possibly a reflection that his powers were on the wane. Three falls in four starts hints at even more ingrained issues for Constitution Hill, particularly as two of them have come before the race had begun in earnest.

As a result, we have little choice but to attach the symbol “x” (which denotes a poor jumper) to Constitution Hill’s Timeform rating for now – a decision which would have been inconceivable this time last year.

It might have been quality over quantity in the Fighting Fifth, but there was plenty of the latter for Saturday’s other headline race, the Coral Gold Cup, which attracted a maximum field for just the third time this century.

In the event, it proved surprisingly one-sided as the thriving Panic Attack (c146+) provided ample compensation for Dan Skelton after The New Lion’s fall sixty minutes earlier, in the process becoming the first mare to win Newbury’s showpiece since Kerstin back in 1959.

Panic Attack is also just the fourth horse to complete the Paddy Power Gold Cup-Coral Gold Cup double in the same season, following on from Bachelor’s Hall (1977), Bright Highway (1980) and Celestial Gold (2004). Bachelor’s Hall went one further by also winning that season’s King George VI Chase before going on to tackle the Cheltenham Gold Cup (fourth), a race Celestial Gold (seventh) also contested the following Spring – Bright Highway had been among the ante-post favourites for the 1981 Cheltenham Gold Cup when injury brought his campaign to a premature end.

It's unlikely such lofty targets await Panic Attack, but she’s a mare firmly on the upgrade over fences - now unbeaten on all three starts in that sphere since joining Skelton – and the form has a solid look to it in behind, with six-and-a-half lengths back to recent Cheltenham winner Three Card Brag (c156), plus the reliable The Changing Man (c143) a further length and a quarter away in third.

The next three home Gorgeous Tom (c151), Pic Roc (c136) and Katate Dori (c141) were among the worst sufferers in yet another shambolic standing start for a big handicap (Pic Roc and Katate Dori both suffered a similar fate at this year’s Cheltenham Festival) and arguably deserve marking up with regards to future targets. Meanwhile, the well-backed favourite Myretown (c142p) suffered a X-rated fall whilst at the head of affairs – which was very much the theme of the day….

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.