Cheltenham Festival News

Constitution Hill happy in his box with ‘do not disturb’ sign

Wed 15 Mar 2023

Nicky Henderson reported Constitution Hill to be fine shape after his stunning Unibet Champion Hurdle victory at Cheltenham on Tuesday.

The superstar six-year-old remained unbeaten under rules after cantering up the hill to prevail by an easy nine lengths from Willie Mullins’ State Man.

Aintree is being discussed for his next outing, with stablemate Epatante, unplaced in the Close Brothers Mares’ Hurdle, a possible for Punchestown.

Henderson said of Constitution Hill: “He’s fine. He went for a walk and we trotted him up.

“He is sound and we put him back in his box with a ‘do not disturb’ sign on it.

Nico de Boinville celebrates winning the Champion Hurdle
Nico de Boinville celebrates winning the Champion Hurdle

“He’s not sore or tired, he’s just done some eating and sleeping.

“Tomorrow we will put a saddle on him. He’s just a very uncomplicated horse that we are very lucky to have.”

Of potential plans for both Constitution Hill and Epatante, he added: “The pair of them finished first and second up at Newcastle (Fighting Fifth Hurdle) and then because of the ground they ran against each other again at Kempton in the Christmas Hurdle.

“I would think it’s more than likely that he will go to Aintree and then that would leave the way clear for Epatante to go to Punchestown, but I haven’t discussed it with JP (McManus, owner of Epatante) yet – I would have thought that would be the plan.”

More Latest News

Betslip

Loading

Select any odd to add a bet

Single Bets

Enter a stake to place a bet

Total Stake: 

This video is playing in Picture-In-Picture. Click to Exit.