Constitution Hill ‘fresh as paint’, with sights set on Punchestown

remains on course for a trip to the Punchestown Festival, according to Nicky Henderson.

With questions to answer having fallen at both Cheltenham and Aintree, he has still to be beaten when completing and a clash with the likes of Lossiemouth, State Man, Brighterdaysahead and Champion Hurdle heroine is a mouthwatering prospect in the Boodles Champion Hurdle on May 2.

“It is our intention to come to Punchestown,” said Henderson, who is no stranger to the winner’s enclosure at the Kildare track.

“It was my original plan after Cheltenham and then, he was so well, I couldn’t say no to Aintree. Thankfully, I think he’s come out of that very well and we’ve got four weeks to Punchestown. It was only three weeks from Cheltenham to Aintree.

“And don’t forget, in neither race has he actually had a race. He is very fresh at the moment. He’s as fresh as paint here. He’s in terrific shape.

“It’s a long way to go and I can’t tell you anything else at the moment, but we think he’s in good nick and all being well, we will be in Punchestown. We are looking forward to going.”

Referring to the strength of the entries, Henderson added: “It’s meant to be a great clash of two great horses – State Man and Constitution Hill – and they deserve to have a head-to-head. And we may have more if Lossiemouth, Golden Ace and Brighterdaysahead are there.

“I think everyone has been talking about State Man and Constitution Hill and want to find out what happens if they turn into the straight together. Wow! That’s what it’s all about. It would be fantastic. Everybody deserves it and we would love to have that in Punchestown.”

One of Henderson’s great days in Ireland was when Sprinter Sacre completed a famous Cheltenham-Aintree-Punchestown hat-trick and the Seven Barrows trainer still looks back on that day fondly now.

“The day we brought Sprinter over will be in my memory forever because of the reception that the Punchestown and Irish crowd gave him,” he said.

“And I mean that. He was a French-bred horse, trained in England and the reception was incredible, before and after the race. It meant a lot to me.”

Jeremy Scott is under no illusions Golden Ace may have been a fortunate winner of the Champion Hurdle but she was in the right place to capitalise in an eventful race.

“She came out of Cheltenham very, very well,” Scott said. “I’m really happy with her and looking forward to coming over. We have never managed to have a winner at Punchestown – we’ve had several seconds – and we love the whole experience. It’s really good fun.

“We were probably a very lucky winner of the Champion Hurdle, so in terms of pressure, I’m not sure we’re feeling a huge amount because we achieved more than we were expecting to this season anyway. So this Punchestown trip is a bonus, if she runs well, and I hope she will.

“Also, it took away from the win a bit the fact that Constitution Hill and State Man both fell. If we’d finished an honourable second to State Man, you’d have nearly felt better in many ways. I loved winning the race, of course, but I’m not sure we proved anything. So it would be nice to come out and prove that maybe it wasn’t entirely luck.

“To be involved in a race of this nature, if everyone turns up, is a pleasure. That’s why we all train horses, isn’t it? Because we want to be able to compete at that level. I think that division is particularly strong at the moment as well, so it’s nice to be part of it.”