Henderson ‘can’t find reason for what’s going wrong’ with Constitution Hill

The trainer plans to give his frustrating jumper a race on the Flat at Southwell in February before deciding whether he will line up at Cheltenham

Nicky Henderson has admitted he ‘can’t find a reason for what’s going wrong’ with falling star Constitution Hill. The jumper seemed destined for greatness when he won the Champion Hurdle in 2023 and when he lined up for another tilt at the title at the Cheltenham Festival last March he was still undefeated in ten starts under rules.

However as 1-2 favourite Constitution Hill crashed out early when he fell with four hurdles still to jump and he has met the same fate in two of his three starts since, most recently when he came down at the second hurdle in a dramatic running of the Fighting Fifth Hurdle in November.

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Constitution Hill has been entered in the 2026 Unibet Champion Hurdle, for which he is an 8-1 chance, but in an unusual move his trainer is going to give him a run on the Flat before any other decisions are made.

He is set to contest a mile and a half race at Southwell on February 20 following the creation of a 1m4f novices race worth £40,000 for horses aged four and above.

Henderson cannot fault Constitution Hill at home in the wake of his latest mishap.

“We’ve got to be terribly happy with the way the schooling and everything has gone,” he said in an update with yard sponsor Unibet.

“At the moment we have this issue. There’s no getting away from it. It’s not that I need to get a race into him. I just think it’s going to be good for him to go to the races and, let’s say, have a nice time.

“A mile and a half round Southwell is a very different ball game to going two miles around Cheltenham, but let’s just see how it goes and then we’ll make a few decisions. We’re still concentrating on the jumping angle but not quite sure where we could still go.”

The trainer said he had enlisted renowned jumps guru Yogi Breisner to help identity any issues with Constitution Hill, adding, “But I’m not sure we’re gonna find that.”

He said: “We’ve tried everything so far and we’ve had a lot of advice from a lot of people and I thank them for it. Nothing’s going wrong. He’s brilliant at home but I can’t find a reason for what’s going wrong on the racecourse.”