Constitution Hill to run at Cheltenham next week

Constitution Hill has been given the green light to run in the Unibet Hurdleat Cheltenham on Saturday week.

Nicky Henderson had intimated his unbeaten star would head straight to the Champion Hurdle on March 11 in the aftermath of his comeback success in last month's Christmas Hurdle at Kempton following a year off.

However, on Thursday, via his blog for Unibet, he issued an upbeat bulletin and said his intention was for Constitution Hill to run on Festival Trials Day, where he will be the headline act on what is always an informative card.

He said: "We have all been very happy with Constitution Hill since the  Christmas Hurdle at Kempton on Boxing Day and he has taken the race particularly well.

"Consequently, with that in mind, it is our intention to run him again in the Unibet Hurdle at Cheltenham on 25th January en route to, hopefully, regaining his Unibet Champion Hurdle crown in March.

"It is a race we unfortunately had to miss last year but everything has gone very well since Christmas and he will have a gallop tomorrow which will put him spot on for a week’s time."

He added: "The decision was quite easy because he has just been very well in himself, he looks great, and I really am delighted with how he has come through Kempton, so that is our plan.

"He doesn’t need to, but he will jump five hurdles between now and then, more so to amuse himself and Nico, because it’s certainly not amusing for me, it’s frightening watching him! Matty Gill, who rides him every day, says he feels great and from what I can see as well, I think this is the right decision.

"He had a spin up the grass on his own earlier in the week and looked in very good order so Prestbury Park here we come."

Constitution Hill has won each of his nine races under Rules by an aggregate of 101 lengths and featured among 16 entries for the Champion Hurdle on Tuesday.

He is a general 5-6 to regain his two-mile crown after missing last year's edition because of a lung infection.

It is unclear who he will face on Saturday week, with the Irish Champion Hurdle taking place a week later at the Dublin Racing Festival.

Henderson also had news on Palladium, the German Derby winner who was bought for €1.4million at the Arc Sale back in October.

He said: “I’m also pleased to report that everything is going nicely with Palladium who schooled very, very well this morning and we are going to be launching him soon. The plan is to appear over hurdles in the very near future.”