He’s already put the lie to how they never come back but Tuesday’s Unibet Champion Hurdle is going to be the definitive answer to which version of Constitution Hill is back.
If it is the 2023 version that lifted the crown with rare aplomb his opposition come 4pm face a Herculean task in preventing Constitution Hill’s unbeaten racecourse record stretching to 11.
That model gave every sign of being all but unbeatable, officially rated up there amongst the best hurdlers of all time.
Faced with that incarnation of Nicky Henderson’s superstar the Irish pair of Brighterdaysahead and State Man, as well as the four other starters are, in likelihood, fighting for second.
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The intrigue of the 2025 Cheltenham Festival’s opening day feature is how no one can know for sure if that will be the case or will the apparent vulnerabilities that kept this genuinely brilliant talent off the course for a year resurface.
The upside from that year-long gap between Christmas Hurdle victories is that English racing’s headline act wasn’t physically injured. There was no lame step.
But by this time last year he had put in an infamous racecourse workout at Kempton that looked dreadful and sounded to many educated ears like a horse struggling with his wind. Instead a lung infection was diagnosed before a colic then ruled him out for the rest of the season.
That only added to a growing suspicion that Constitution Hill might be morphing into another See You Then, the first of Henderson’s top horses, whose rare appearances back in the 1980s led to him being tagged ‘See You When.’
More extreme critics had Constitution Hill all but written off as a force. There was more than some trepidation then when he did eventually return at Christmas where he ultimately proved himself in the whole of his health.
Considering the final margin over a far from faultless Lossiemouth was only a couple of lengths it hardly ranked as a swaggering performance comparable with his 2022 Fighting Fifth rout of Epatante. But Kempton proved he was back.
Far from being cosseted he then fetched up at Cheltenham for a Trial in January that was little more than a lucrative piece of work until an uncharacteristic misstep at the final flight.
The opposition was ordinary but there was a reassuring swagger to the display that smacked of a horse that had progressed for his comeback.
Now he doesn’t have to face Lossiemouth again but does have to cope with the reigning champ State Man – runner up in 2023 – and another top Irish mare in Brighterdaysahead.
The latter presents her own quandary. Can her stunning Christmas display at Leopardstown be taken at face value? If it can then beating State Man by more than 30 lengths is an outstanding piece of form. Constitution Hill beat State Man by nine lengths in his 2023 championship. Significantly, though, the handicapper raised her by 8lb, suggesting some doubt.
Accompanied by her stable companion King Of Kingfield, Gordon Elliott’s star, helped by her 7lb sex allowance, is likely to want another bruising pace scenario, potentially presenting a target for those slipstreaming her.
They include the all-but-forgotten State Man, beaten twice by Brighterdaysahead this season, and who availed of Lossiemouth’s spill at the Dublin Racing Festival. Underestimating him has proved a costly exercise over the years. He also sports first-time cheekpieces.
In contrast, there are some convinced Constitution Hill’s reputation is inflated. What has he beat the argument goes. If Brighterdaysahead is the real thing, or if State Man bucks expectations again, and the English superstar still manages to beat them with the old strut, it will be some riposte.
No one will relish such an outcome more than his owner Michael Buckley who has summed up the scenario well.
“I’ve been a bit vociferous, I suppose, after constantly reading about how he’s in decline and can’t be within 10lb of what he was. Nobody has got any evidence to support that view, it’s just chit-chat and a view and they might be right. But they could also be wrong as he might be better than he was – nobody knows.
“I actually think he might be better than he was. I think he’s more mature and is taking his races better – that I can absolutely guarantee,” the Englishman said.
The finding out is a prospect to relish. A first Champion Hurdle for the Brighterdaysahead team would be nobody’s idea of a damp squib. State Man too is such an admirable performer. Golden Ace is the only horse ever to beat Brighterdaysahead.
But Constitution Hill back to his peak, or better, might be momentous enough to resurrect the football quote about never minding the time of a score, just write down the date.
