Nov 20,2024
Jockey Nico de Boinville and trainer Nicky Henderson reported themselves satisfied following Constitution Hill's workout at Newbury on Tuesday, although he was eased in the betting for his scheduled return in the BetMGM Fighting Fifth Hurdle at Newcastle on Saturday week and for the Champion Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival.
The last time Henderson's superstar hurdler was seen in public was a dramatic appearance at Kempton Park in February, when it transpired he was suffering from an infection which ruled him out of a Champion Hurdle defence.
Constitution Hill only ran once last season, in the Christmas Hurdle at Kempton, after Henderson decided against running him in the rearranged Fighting Fifth at Sandown on testing ground.
De Boinville was aboard for the Newbury workout, in which Constitution Hill finished behind Sir Gino, and told Sky Sports Racing: "He felt great until about the two (furlong marker) and then he’s had a really good blow.
"He’s come off looking like he’s had a really good piece of work. It’s soft ground out there and he just needed it a bit, but that will bring him on.
"Turning into the straight, he really locked on and I was just having to say 'whoa, we’ve got four furlongs to run’ so all the ability is there, it’s getting him up to full fitness.
"Today will bring him on an awful lot, we’ve got one more piece of work to go, he’ll probably school this week and then we’re ready."
When he was asked if he felt a different horse to the Kempton gallop, De Boinville said: "Too right. At Kempton I was struggling going into the back straight, I could have pulled him up there and then and probably should have done, but today was great – Sir Gino is a very good horse himself."
Henderson told the Nick Luck Daily Podcast: "It was good, just what we needed. We’ve had the rain which we’ve been praying for.
"There’s always pressure with horses like him. He’s been missing for a bit but there’s been nothing wrong with him, that’s the most important thing.
"He hasn’t had any big injury or anything. He had a bit of colic but no surgery or anything. He was in training all that time. I think his absence is misunderstood."
He went on: "It’s not really a comeback. Going back to Sprinter Sacre when he went missing for a year and a half, he had a serious heart problem, this horse hasn’t had a serious injury of any description, he’s just had a bit of bad luck.
"The Fighting Fifth was abandoned, that was bad luck, he was brilliant at Kempton and then he had those two issues – the timing was horrific but it wasn’t his fault.
"We knew that (the old Constitution Hill) was there, he’s done plenty of work, he’s been doing this for months but he came in looking rather burlier than he might have done.
"This was double what he did that day when he came with Jonbon. Sir Gino is a very, very good horse.
"You hope, you never expect. He’s got to start somewhere, he’s been off since Boxing Day but that shouldn’t worry him, he’s had a good summer, he’s had a gallop today and I think we’re absolutely spot on."
