Britain's best loved Jumps horse takes a route less travelled from now on
- Peter McNeile
- 23 hours ago
- 3 min read
A public debate has been raging in British & Irish racing over the status of the former Champion Hurdler, Constitution Hill, a highly-rated hurdler and winner of 10 of his races over obstacles, whose recent trajectory toward eternal recognition has been halted by a series of spectacular falls on the racetrack.
The nine year old, who has proved himself head and shoulders ahead of his peer group since 2023's Champion Hurdle, won the hearts of a racing public with searing speed and some prodigious leaps, yet that same courage has got him in a pickle, where his last 3 runs have landed him on the floor. There isn't a racing fan in Britain, Ireland or even France who doesn't have an opinion on him.
To racing folk who don't follow the ups and downs of the small parish of racing over obstacles, it may seem odd to see this sort of adulation for a horse, particularly one that has fallen from grace, yet that fervour around Constitution Hill goes right to the heart of racing's greatest issue: its social licence to race thoroughbreds.
In pretty much every jurisdiction of the world, racetrack operators and sport regulators walk a tightrope between providing entertainment and managing the inevitable injury or even fatality that comes with competitive sport.
Other sports have seen their social licence reduced or even removed altogether. In New Zealand, greyhound racing is being halted due to public opinion, whilst close to home, Jump racing has virtually ceased to be a betting product in Sweden as market research leads wagering businesses to omit it. The use of the stick in Sweden is also even more restrictive than anywhere else - a sign of the public's disapproval of forcing horses on against their will.
The Constitution Hill story therefore is one of protecting racing's reputation. His owner and trainer have made the sensible decision not to risk the champ at Cheltenham, where another fall, in front of 55,000 and millions of TV viewers, could foment a backlash against the sport, one which could be disastrous, were any fall to be life-endangering.
If half the sport's fans are disappointed that the 2023 winner of hurdling's greatest prize will no longer leave the ground over obstacles, the other half are sighing with relief, and looking ahead to a new career - albeit rather later to the scene than most horses on the flat. As his opening shot at running on the level proved, he hasn't lost any of his speed.
Middle and staying distance races in the autumn seem a likely target, with half an eye on qualification for the Melbourne Cup. And as if to illustrate that the crossover between the two codes is on the increase, and not a strange anomaly around one horse, Irish Flat Champion Jockey Colin Keane has been snapped up to ride the fancied The Mourne Rambler in the Cheltenham Festival's only flat race in a fortnight.
The Constitution Hill story is also one of great hope, as the fans engaged in the "Will he, won't he" saga have not been lured to follow it by some of racing's other attractions - booze, betting, music - but by following the fortunes of one of the sport's best athletes.
Would that we could create more stories of this nature around the animal at the heart of our sport.
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