‘He’s an extraordinary animal’ – Constitution Hill firmly on track for Champion Hurdle as Nicky Henderson
NICKY HENDERSON says ‘everything is going great’ with his superstar hurdler Constitution Hill.
The unbeaten seven-year-old is the red-hot favourite for next month’s Champion Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival.
PANicky Henderson gave a positive update on Constitution Hill ahead of Cheltenha,[/caption]
He was recently the subject of injury rumours, though these were quickly quashed by the six-time champion trainer and the horse was in fine fettle when paraded in front of the media on Monday morning.
His price at the head of the betting has remained steady at 1-3 since his effortless win in the Christmas Hurdle at Kempton on Boxing Day.
Henderson decided there and then that he would go straight to the Cheltenham Festival without a prep run.
But he will be taken for a racecourse gallop in the next week or two, along with the rest of Henderson’s strong Festival squad.
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He said: “He’s fine and in good form, everything is going great.
“He did a nice piece of work on Saturday and he will probably have an away day for a gallop at Kempton beforehand, along with several others.
“He’s been and won around Cheltenham, he’s broken records and he seems to do it quite easily, he hasn’t done anything wrong.
“But there is plenty that can go wrong. This is a horrible time of year when horses start to drop out. There are still four weeks to go which is an eternity when you are dealing with racehorses.
“Hopefully we get there in good shape. He is an extraordinary animal and his greatest asset is his head.
“His whole mind game is absolutely brilliant, nothing could frighten him or unsettle him.
“I think you could go three miles with him now if you wanted, you just switch him off, put him to sleep and push the button when you’re ready.”
The main challenger at Cheltenham is Willie Mullins’ State Man, who lowered the colours of Honeysuckle at Leopardstown last week.
Henderson was impressed with him, and joked: “Me and Willie are great mates so I can say it, but watching the Dublin Racing Festival, it was like a Putin show of strength, parading his soldiers and nuclear missiles in Red Square one after another!
“I was impressed with State Man the other week, he looks a good horse and he won at the Festival last year, so it will be a good race.”
It looks increasingly unlikely that Constitution Hill’s long-term future will be over hurdles, with a potential switch to fences in the offing next season.
Henderson added: “Without a doubt he could go over fences, but that will be a discussion for the summer. And in terms of trip, I think he could go as far as he likes.”
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