Will Constitution Hill return to jumping in Unibet Champion Hurdle?

Watching Newcastle’s Friday Night Live action – from a safe distance I should add – only got me wondering how the Constitution Hill project is going to look at the next fixture at Southwell in a little under a fortnight’s time.

It's clearly delicate but, on the face of it, the decision to run him on the level looks a possible win-win for connections at this point. He’s a nine-year-old Champion Hurdle hero who they must desperately want to run in another Champion Hurdle, and while a big decision lies in store no matter the outcome on February 20, maybe the stars are starting to align.

Or not, as the case may be when it comes to this year’s day-one feature at the Festival. Paul Nicholls is considering supplementing his William Hill Hurdle winner, Tutti Quanti. Say no more.

Dan Skelton keeps stressing that The New Lion is “fast enough”, almost to the extent that I’m starting to wonder whether or not he’s fast enough, while all three of the mares deserve some degree of respect, but fellow superstars are nowhere to be seen, frankly, and it just feels like the previously guarded support behind Constitution Hill’s potential return to the jumping scene is swelling towards the surface.

“I would (run him in the Champion Hurdle),” said Ben Pauling, in the manner of an opener sent out to bat for his Lambourn skipper on Racing TV’s Luck On Sunday. Before adding: “But it’s easy to say when I’m not training him. He’s just so talented, and he’s got so much left to give.

“It’s a chance for him to get out, have a racecourse gallop, maybe set himself up for a Flat career further down the line – I don’t know what Nicky’s thinking."

I can’t claim to know that either, but does anybody really envisage Henderson, or owner Michael Buckley, lying awake at night and thinking of a shot at the John Porter, the Sagaro, Ormonde Stakes or Yorkshire Cup? It might just be the Champion or bust as far as I see it.

And if he wins tidily at Southwell, Henderson has shown everyone the horse to be fighting fit and in a good state mentally; it's an essential element of the whole thing, the fact he's not hiding behind closed doors. Maybe even students in bobble-hats will be singing Oisin Murphy’s name (he’ll like that) before throwing their pints in the air as the headline act of the FNL jamboree crosses the line in front.

Job done, onto Cheltenham - even if some, including ITV Racing’s Alice Plunkett, say they might struggle to cope with watching.

And if Constitution Hill is beaten? Well, he’s had a day out, the illusory Flat career is in the bin as soon as it’s got off the ground and another go at hurdling – what he was born to do – is the only reasonable course of action other than retirement.

Not everyone is impressed by the tee-up plan, though. There are two sides to every story – in racing or anywhere else for that matter. Charlie Johnston, in the February edition of The Kingsley Klarion, wasn’t pulling any punches.

He wrote: “Like everyone else, I'm fascinated to see if Constitution Hill makes his Flat debut at Southwell on February 20 as part of their Friday Night Live card. It's hard to see how his performance in what amounts to a glorified bumper will guide connections as to whether/how he might perform in the Champion Hurdle.

“If he runs, he should definitely attract more viewers, but what annoys me, however, is that trainers who support racing on the all-weather circuit throughout the winter have to watch their horses compete for derisory prize-money on a daily basis, yet the prospect of including Constitution Hill has seen the race brought forward from another Southwell card and, remarkably, the addition of £40,000 in prize-money, making the race the joint most valuable novice race to be run on the all-weather in Britain.

"I'm not impressed."

He's obviously got a point, but maybe the Middleham man will run a few ‘spoilers’ in there, try nick some of the dosh and make it an even more absorbing spectacle in the process. Either way, Constitution Hill seems unlikely to be fazed by any of it, certainly if you ask those closest to the horse.

The stakes are undeniably high, and I wouldn’t wish to downplay the consequences of a worst-case-scenario should the nine-year-old take up his engagement at Cheltenham, but I only see this playing out the one way, and that’s Nicky Henderson doing what he's done better than most for many decades now – putting his own reputation on the line in order to give the horses for which he cares so dearly every possible chance of restoring theirs.

All in good time with major awards for Oscars

A few eyebrows were raised when Oscars Brother was entered for the Randox Grand National, but Connor King’s rising star appeared to take another subtle step towards Aintree with a smooth success in Sunday’s Grade 2 Ten Up Novice Chase at Navan.

Whether that is going to be this year, or next, I’m not yet convinced but he’ll definitely need to run again in order to meet the qualification criteria for the 2026 National and maybe he’ll head to Cheltenham for the Brown Advisory if there’s still plenty of rain around next month.

He jumps exceptionally well but is obviously still very inexperienced in that regard and would be far more likely to get his preferred soft ground by staying at home for the Irish Grand National this time around.

He does have a bit of unfinished business at the big Fairyhouse meeting too, having fallen early on when well-fancied for a staying handicap hurdle there last April, and I could see him following in the footsteps of I Am Maximus, who won the Irish version as a novice before lining up on Merseyside with 10 chase runs under his belt and a few more hairs on his chest.

Either way, former jockey Connor King is clearly making waves and doing a fine job with the two horses (!) he trains and you'd like to think he might be sent a few more promising individuals before the season's out.

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