Thunderstorms on the horizon as Constitution Hill given Windsor entry

Constitution Hill looks set to face some serious opposition if he lines up in Saturday’s Weatherbys August Stakes at Windsor.

The former superstar hurdler is one of 19 entries for the Listed feature, with Jamie Osborne’s Tattersalls Gold Cup-winning recruit White Birch and the 112-rated trio of Al Aasy, Arabian Crown and Ghostwriter among his potential rivals.

Constitution Hill achieved a rating of 101 after winning his first two Flat starts – on the all-weather at Southwell in February and Kempton in March – and has since enjoyed a midsummer break with a view to an autumn campaign.

Nicky Henderson identified this weekend’s extended one-mile-three-furlong contest as a potential target in mid-July and while the prolonged dry spell led to him circling Kempton’s September Stakes early next month as a possible alternative, rain is due to arrive later this week, giving Constitution Hill’s legion of fans hope he could make his first start on turf on the level.

Windsor’s clerk of the course, Charlie Rees, said: “The weather seems to be changing, with some thunderstorms on the horizon. Being thunderstorms they can be quite unpredictable, but it currently looks like we should get 5-10 millimetres of rain on Thursday and the same on Friday, before having showers possibly throughout racing on Saturday evening.

“If we hit the higher end of the forecast you’d sort of imagine us being on the easy side of good on Saturday. Obviously it’s very unpredictable at this stage, but hopefully we’ll have a clearer picture in the morning when the latest forecasts arrive.

“I don’t think there’s a racecourse in the country that wouldn’t want Constitution Hill turning up at their track. He’s really captured the imagination of many racing fans, but there’s a lot other high-class horses in the race as well, so we’re excited about it what happens.

“White Birch was rated 119 when he ran in the Arc and he’s a Group One winner, beating Auguste Rodin, so there’s some serious form there on paper.

“I would imagine a lot of the runners are waiting for a bit of rain, that’s why we haven’t seen a lot of them for a while now. We’ll keep our fingers crossed the rain comes, like the rest of the UK probably is.”

The William Haggas-trained Al Aasy is a standing dish in these type of races and was last seen finishing third in his pursuit of a third win in the Group Three Glorious Stakes at Goodwood.

Kevin Philippart De Foy’s Ghostwriter was fourth in the same race on the Sussex Downs, while Arabian Crown finished a close second to his now-retired globetrotting stablemate Rebel’s Romance in the Group Two Princess of Wales’s Stakes at Newmarket.

Gaucher, meanwhile, is an interesting entry for Willie Mullins, having finished third behind his Breeders’ Cup Turf-winning stablemate Ethical Diamond in the Group Three Ballyroan Stakes at Leopardstown recently.