Constitution Hill, the long odds-on favourite for the Champion Hurdle at Cheltenham, gave his galloping companions several lengths’ start but still accelerated past them with ease on the Polytrack here on Tuesday morning, confirming that he will be at peak form and fitness for the feature event on the opening day of the Cheltenham Festival next month.
Constitution Hill exercised with two stablemates, Ahorsewithnoname and Captain Morgs, in what Nicky Henderson, his trainer, said afterwards was effectively two separate pieces of work, as he struggles to find a horse at home fast enough to give Constitution Hill a lead. “I’ve been saying all week that I’ve been hunting for a miler to jump in halfway down the back straight,” Henderson said. “But to be fair, the other two boys did a very good job there, because they’ve done their thing and Nico [de Boinville, on Constitution Hill] has done his own thing.
There were two things happening at once and they just minded themselves. “This is what he loves doing and that’s the whole point of doing it, because he enjoys it.
He’s fit and he’ll have another bit of work at home, but it’s a bit difficult without the grass at the moment so good old Barney [Clifford, Kempton’s clerk of the course] lets us do that.” Constitution Hill was one of nine horses from the Henderson stable which travelled down from Lambourn to exercise on Tuesday, including Jonbon, the second-favourite for the Arkle Trophy on 14 March, as well as Epatante, the 2020 Champion Hurdle winner, and Marie’s Rock, who has entries in both the Mares’ Hurdle and Stayers’ Hurdle.