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The mercurial career of Constitution Hill took a dramatic upward turn on Friday as the 2023 Champion Hurdle winner turned his belated Flat debut into a procession up the Southwell straight, coming home nine and a half lengths clear of the runner-up, with Oisin Murphy, the champion jockey, motionless in his saddle.
Even those closest to Constitution Hill were left astonished by his performance, which may make it increasingly likely that the champion jumping horse who had famously forgotten how to jump will now switch to racing on the Flat full-time.
“I couldn’t have dreamed that one up, I must admit,” Nicky Henderson, the nine-year-old’s trainer, said. “We probably should have sorted this about four years ago, shouldn’t we? It’s nice to be back with positive vibes, we’ve got lots to look forward to and lots of decisions to make.
“One thought this would tell us roughly what we would do and this does open up a lot of doors, doesn’t it? We have to think long and hard. It would be lovely to say ‘We will do this’, but I don’t think we can at the minute.”
Michael Buckley, Constitution Hill’s owner, has suffered more than anyone as a horse who was already established as one of the finest hurdlers of all time has had a series of setbacks. The possibility of Constitution Hill running on the Flat at all would have been unthinkable just 11 months ago, when he went to post as the 1-2 favourite for the Champion Hurdle.
After a fall at the fifth at Cheltenham, his career has lurched from one disappointment to the next, culminating in a third fall in four starts in Newcastle’s Fighting Fifth Hurdle in November. That early exit, at the second flight after taking off too early at the first, suggested that the nine-year-old had lost all confidence in his ability to get from one side of an obstacle to another.
“It sounds a silly thing to say after what’s happened in the last year,” Buckley said, “but we’ve always known he was special. And I think with all the problems and heartbreaks we’ve had, now everybody knows how special he is. He’s a nine-year-old horse, but he sure is good.”
Constitution Hill had drifted in the betting in the days running up to Friday’s race, but he set off as the 6-4 favourite after a rush of money in the hours beforehand and was roared to victory by a near-record crowd for an evening meeting at Southwell.
The same fixture 12 months ago drew just 320 spectators, but there were 3,520 racegoers on Friday, as confirmed fans eager for a glimpse of Constitution Hill were joined by a large contingent from the “Invades” initiative, there as part of racing’s new Friday Night Live programme to attract a younger audience to the sport.
The bumper crowd and the jubilant reception for Constitution Hill as he returned after his facile success was a huge vindication for Southwell’s decision to create the £40,000 event for novices, following a suggestion by Henderson that Constitution Hill could benefit from a spin on the Flat after his latest setback at Newcastle.
There were fears earlier in the week, when the big purse attracted a bumper entry including a runner from Willie Mullins’s yard in Ireland and several from top Flat stables, that Constitution Hill would be balloted out, and his place in the lineup was confirmed only on Wednesday morning.
“Putting on that prize money made the race far too competitive for my liking, with all these fancy Flat horses turning up,” Henderson said. “But what can you say, he was unbelievable.”
