Constitution Hill and Nico de Boinville © Photo Healy Racing
Constitution Hill left big-race jockey Nico de Boinville and trainer Nicky Henderson satisfied following a workout at Newbury on Tuesday, although he was eased in the betting for his scheduled return in the BetMGM Fighting Fifth Hurdle at Newcastle on Saturday week.
The last time Henderson’s superstar hurdler was seen in public was a dramatic appearance at Kempton Park in February, when it transpired he was suffering from an infection which ruled him out of a Champion Hurdle defence.
Constitution Hill only ran once last season, in the Christmas Hurdle at Kempton, after Henderson decided against running him in the rearranged Fighting Fifth at Sandown on testing ground.
De Boinville was aboard for the Newbury workout, in which Constitution Hill finished behind Sir Gino, and told Sky Sports Racing: “He felt great until about the two (furlong marker) and then he’s had a really good blow.
“He’s come off looking like he’s had a really good piece of work. It’s soft ground out there and he just needed it a bit, but that will bring him on.
“Turning into the straight, he really locked on and I was just having to say ‘whoa, we’ve got four furlongs to run’ so all the ability is there, it’s getting him up to full fitness.
“Today will bring him on an awful lot, we’ve got one more piece of work to go, he’ll probably school this week and then we’re ready.”
When he was asked if he felt a different horse to the Kempton gallop, De Boinville said: “Too right. At Kempton I was struggling going into the back straight, I could have pulled him up there and then and probably should have done, but today was great – Sir Gino is a very good horse himself.”
Fighting Fifth sponsors BetMGM pushed him out to 5-6 from 4-6 with their UK director Sam Behar saying: “The last time we saw Constitution Hill gallop it set alarm bells ringing and today’s outing at Newbury perhaps wasn’t quite as promising as many would have hoped.
“Stablemate Sir Gino seemed to work better than the 2023 Champion Hurdler and as a result we’ve pushed Constitution Hill out to 5-6 from 4-6 for next Saturday’s Fighting Fifth Hurdle at Newcastle.”
Some firms were even less impressed, with Betfair easing him all the way out to 4-1 for the Champion Hurdle, but Henderson was not concerned.
He told the Nick Luck Daily Podcast: “It was good, just what we needed. We’ve had the rain which we’ve been praying for.
“There’s always pressure with horses like him. He’s been missing for a bit but there’s been nothing wrong with him, that’s the most important thing.
“He hasn’t had any big injury or anything. He had a bit of colic but no surgery or anything. He was in training all that time. I think his absence is misunderstood.”
He went on: “It’s not really a comeback. Going back to Sprinter Sacre when he went missing for a year and a half, he had a serious heart problem, this horse hasn’t had a serious injury of any description, he’s just had a bit of bad luck.
“The Fighting Fifth was abandoned, that was bad luck, he was brilliant at Kempton (Christmas Hurdle) and then he had those two issues – the timing was horrific but it wasn’t his fault.
“We knew that (the old Constitution Hill) was there, he’s done plenty of work, he’s been doing this for months but he came in looking rather burlier than he might have done.
“This was double what he did that day when he came with Jonbon. Sir Gino is a very, very good horse.
“You hope, you never expect. He’s got to start somewhere, he’s been off since Boxing Day but that shouldn’t worry him, he’s had a good summer, he’s had a gallop today and I think we’re absolutely spot on.”
Expanding on plans for the exciting Sir Gino, Henderson confirmed chasing is the plan for his unbeaten Grade One-winning novice hurdler.
He said: “It remains the plan for Sir Gino to go chasing for two reasons. As long as Constitution Hill is on track, which he is, Sir Gino is a very, very good horse. If anything happened to Constitution Hill, Sir Gino would be ready to jump into the Fighting Fifth.
“We have schooled Sir Gino over fences and he is extremely good, so we go that route. Bearing in mind, the other clash he could have if he stays hurdling is that Joe Donnelly owns State Man as well, so why not try make one into a chaser and have two runners.
“We were talking about Kempton on Monday for Sir Gino, but we will see. I wasn’t expecting at the start of the season for Sir Gino to be on the squad of novice chasers. Sir Gino was there if needed be for the Fighting Fifth or Christmas Hurdle if anything was to happen to Constitution Hill, not because it’s Constitution Hill but anything can happen to any horse. If there is any reason he can’t go there, Sir Gino is there as a bit of a backup.”
