Constitution Hill storms to victory at Southwell

What are Constitution Hill’s options if he’s to qualify for the Sky Bet Ebor?

Horse Racing

Fri July 03, 2026 · 3d ago

Nicky Henderson faces a race against time if he’s to get Constitution Hill qualified for the Sky Bet Ebor at York on Saturday August 22.

Entries close for the £500,000 handicap on Tuesday July 7 and if the nine-year-old appears amongst them with the intention of going for the big pot he will have to complete a third qualifying run on the level.

So far Constitution Hill has raced just twice on the Flat since his hurdling career was called to a halt, winning at Southwell on February 20 and Kempton Park on March 25, both times over 1m4f on the All-Weather in novice company.

In accordance with the provisions of paragraph 9 of the Weights and Handicapping Code, a horse must have run three times or more in order to qualify for the Ebor and the deadline for this run is by the end of Saturday July 18, five days before the weights are published for the Ebor on Wednesday July 22.

With summer ground prevailing around the country this makes life difficult for Henderson, who would have to supplement Constitution Hill at a cost of £12,000 if he wanted to run him in the Group 2 Princess Of Wales’s Stakes over 1m4f at Newmarket’s July Festival.

That race is on Thursday July 9, any supplementary entries have to be in by noon on Friday July 3 and it looks one of the few remaining options for Constitution Hill to run if he’s to qualify for the Ebor, especially over a mile and a half.

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Henderson has intimated he would rather stay closer to home with Constitution Hill for his next start and you can’t get much closer than Newbury Racecourse, 20 miles down the road from his home at Seven Barrows.

That brings the Listed Steventon Stakes into play on Saturday July 18, on the Weatherbys Super Sprint card, and the timing is perfect given that is the final date available to get that third run in before the Ebor.

It’s over 10 furlongs, so Henderson would have to be happy with that, while some mid-July rain wouldn’t go amiss either with connections keen to avoid rattling quick ground in the summer.

All in all, the options look few and far between for Constitution Hill if he’s to qualify for the Sky Bet Ebor, a race for which he is the 12/1 second favourite with the sponsors.

Perhaps if the ground is suitable at York and he’s ready for action, but with just those two runs under his belt, the Group 2 Lonsdale Cup over two miles on the Friday of the meeting could come into play.

Again, that looks unlikely on the back of just two novice wins in February and March, so it could be the autumn before Henderson will be able to run Constitution Hill again.

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