It shapes as a non-event from a competitive perspective but Constitution Hill’s Cheltenham Trials Day appearance on Saturday is still the weekend’s focus of attention.
British jump racing’s headline act will be an unbackable odds-on favourite to bring up a ‘Perfect 10′ career record in the Unibet Hurdle.
Public appetite for such solo-shows is obviously limited. But such is the melodrama accompanying Nicky Henderson’s star no matter what he does, many will tune into the expected rout of four inferior opponents come 3.00pm.
It’s not like glorified pieces of work are confined to cross-channel racing. On Sunday, Willie Mullins’s unbeaten Champion Hurdle ‘dark horse’ Anzadam runs against a pair of apparently outgunned rivals at Naas.
Willie Mullins is 10-1 to again land all eight Grade One races at Dublin Racing Festival
Constitution Hill survives scare at the last in another dominant display at Cheltenham
Aurora Vega continues on the right path at Fairyhouse
Champion Hurdle ‘dark horse’ Anzadam faces just two rivals in Naas contest
But the sport has no greater popular draw right now than Constitution Hill. A sparkling novice career meant his 2023 Champion Hurdle victory was regarded as little more than inevitable. His best is already officially rated amongst the very best the hurdling game has ever seen.
However, a year-long absence due to a variety of frailties and misfortune had many sage voices dismissing him as a busted flush. Rarely has racing’s habit of tearing down a reputation almost as fast as building it up been as obvious as around Constitution Hill.
It meant many were close to gobsmacked when he eventually did return to action at Kempton over Christmas and delivered a rapturously received success.
The bones of his 2½ length defeat of Lossiemouth have been picked over remorselessly ever since. The mare’s team are convinced she’s better than she showed, and handicap wonks are far from convinced Constitution Hill ran to anything like his absolute best.
Parking all such qualifications to one side though and considering he had been so widely written off for so long, it was still a notably smooth display by a horse that had had just a single start in the previous 20 months.
Believers have helped him into a red-hot 4/7 favourite to reclaim the Champion Hurdle crown in March and to that end a pre-festival saunter around Cheltenham is ideal for the Henderson camp.
Public hopes that Lossiemouth might take him on again were always odds-against and made redundant by travel hassles due to Storm Eowyn. Another meaningful scrap with a proper rival just six weeks out from the festival would have had the famously cautious Henderson walking his box.
Gordon Elliott has got Fils d’Oudairies across the Irish Sea to pick up more minor money behind hurdling’s big guns this season. All of it makes for a pretty much redundant betting prospect but as usual with Constitution Hill he promises to be irresistible viewing.
“I never thought we would be doing this, but he’s up for it, we’re up for it,” Henderson said. “Every day is full of excitement at the moment and you just have to get through all these weekends. In a few weeks’ time we will be walking into the gates of Cheltenham, hopefully with the horses in the form they are in now.”
A handful of Grade Two prizes up for grabs underscore the ‘Trials’ element to Saturday’s Cheltenham action. The top cross-channel novice Potters Charm goes in the last of them while earlier East India Dock puts his Triumph Hurdle credentials on the line. Both will be ridden by Sam Twiston Davies.
For a home team desperate to hold its own at the festival in March these are horses with a lot riding on them.
All of it pales in comparison though to the prospect of next weekend’s Dublin Racing Festival, Ireland ultimate Trials date for the March meeting that matters most of all.
It’s unlikely to be any kind of solo for Brighterdaysahead, State Man & Co in the big hurdle at Leopardstown while the clash of Galopin Des Champs and Fact To File make for an intriguing prospect again in the Irish Gold Cup.
In comparison, there’s a rather second division vibe going into Saturday’s Cotswold Chase. Gentlemansgame did best of the rest behind ‘Galopin’ in the Savills over Christmas and has leading claims. On official figures though he has plenty to find with L’Homme Presse.
“If we get him right, he’s not bad you know. He finished 12 lengths behind Galopin Des Champs at Christmas and that was a good effort. He was staying on and then made a mistake at the last, that wouldn’t have made any difference, but he was staying on.
“I’ve read some trying to suggest he’s not that strong a stayer, but this lad will stay all day, I can assure you of that,” said Gentlemansgame’s trainer Mouse Morris on Friday.
Looking further ahead, following 70mms of rainfall since Christmas, Leoaprdstown’s going ahead of next week’s DRF is good to yielding and yielding in places on the chase course. Yielding ground applies on the hurdles circuit. Up to 15mms more rainfall is anticipated up to Monday.
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