Tag Archive for: Constitution Hill

Mullins joins everyone else in being in awe of Constitution Hill

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Willie Mullins hailed Constitution Hill as “a proper champion hurdler” after watching Nicky Henderson’s charge take apart the field in the first day highlight at the Cheltenham Festival.

The perennial Irish champion trainer fielded second-favourite State Man in the Unibet Champion Hurdle, with the Irish raider sent off a 7-2 shot in comparison to Constitution Hill’s 4-11 favourite tag.

State Man tracked Constitution Hill and briefly looked set to make a race of it turning for home – but the instant reaction when Nico de Boinville pushed the button on the market leader left State Man and jockey Paul Townend trailing in his wake.

State Man, who came into the race on the back of four Grade One wins and six successive victories in total, went down by nine lengths to the Michael Buckley-owned Constitution Hill, who was having his first run since winning the Christmas Hurdle at Kempton Park on Boxing Day.

Mullins said: “We ran very well, we just met a proper champion hurdler.

“We were happy, we’ve no excuses. Well done to Nicky and Michael and the team.

“Nico gave him a brave man’s ride. He set out and had the confidence he was on the best horse.

“I’m delighted for all the connections.”

Townend admitted he knew he was beaten some way out, lauding the winner as an “outstanding horse”.

He said: “We ran well. We were running for second I thought from a long way out.

“Nico was doing everything easily in front of me and all credit to the winner and his connections – they have an outstanding horse.

“From the back of the second-last, when Nico started to open up his lad, he was just getting further and further away from me.

“I have nothing but admiration for him (Constitution Hill).”

Constitution Hill (front right) had his Cheltenham rivals well beaten
Constitution Hill (front right) had his Cheltenham rivals well beaten (David Davies/PA)

Gordon Elliott saddled 66-1 shot Zanahiyr to finish third and he was more than happy with the result.

He said: “It was a great run to finish third behind a horse like the winner. There is a good chance he could go to Aintree and step back up to two and a half miles next month.

“He was still in with a big chance at that meeting last year but unluckily fell at the last hurdle. It would be great to see him make amends.”

Rich Ricci, owner of fourth home Vauban, was similarly impressed with the unbeaten Constitution Hill.

He said: “I think we might have been third but we tried to win the race and in the end we had no chance against a freak of a horse, and I say that in the nicest way, as he (the winner) is very, very good.”

Constitution Hill simply magnificent in Champion Hurdle cruise

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Constitution Hill lit up day one of the Cheltenham Festival as he took the Unibet Champion Hurdle crown in sublime style.

This race had been seen as the six-year-old’s date with destiny ever since romping to victory in the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle 12 months ago – and Nicky Henderson’s charge did not disappoint, much to the delight of a packed Prestbury Park crowd.

Sent off at odds of 4-11, jockey Nico de Boinville was keen to keep things simple and had the Michael Buckley-owned winner tracking I Like To Move It, who was setting the fractions.

Travelling with supreme ease, Constitution Hill’s super-slick hurdling saw him breeze to the front after three out and De Boinville was simply nudging his mount forwards as he drew clear of the chasing back rounding the turn for home.

He was soon sauntering up the hill with victory from the Willie Mullins-trained State Man secured, and De Boinville was able to turn to the crowd and milk the applause as Constitution Hill in a canter.

Victory saw De Boinville join an illustrious role of honour to have won the Festival’s three biggest prizes, while Constitution Hill crushed the trends to become the first horse since dual race winner Bula’s first Champion Hurdle triumph in 1971 to follow up victory in the Supreme Novices Hurdle.

For Henderson, he added Champion Hurdle number nine to his illustrious CV and there is every chance this could be the best of the lot to step foot in Seven Barrows.

“I’ve got watery eyes, I always have and I always will have, but that will bring tears to most eyes when you see a horse that is like that because I think it’s pretty unique,” he said.

“I’ve had 12 months of anxious moments, but that is our life and the closer it gets the more anxious you get. Have we done this and have we done that, but there is a brilliant team behind it all and they have been fantastic.

“We all know the last few weeks are horrible, I hope I haven’t been too bad but they have been absolutely brilliant.

“Only one of these horses come along in a lifetime. You can’t get a horse like this if you only have one horse, you have to have a lot of horses to find one of these and we are lucky.

“I think it is extraordinary that is just the sixth race of his life and he’s doing that now. We had some wonderful days here with Sprinter Sacre, in particular his comeback Champion Chase, that was about as unique as it got – but this horse is going to extraordinary levels at the moment.

“We are very lucky to be the custodians of this horse, but then the trouble is the responsibility that comes with that.”

When asked if Constitution Hill was the best he had trained, Henderson said: “We’ll sleep on that one. They always say you should never paint a horse until he’s retired. It took me a long time before I would say Sprinter was better than say See You Then, but I had to admit it in the end. Altior was another great horse.

“We’ve just been very lucky, but this looks totally unique – he’s just so unflappable. I went to see him last night and fed him a pocket full of carrots and then Jaydon (Lee, stable lad) went to give him another ton of carrots but nothing worries him, he just ate them.

“I was saying you need to be eating something that is good for you, not carrots – you’re not racing in the dark!”

De Boinville said: “Constitution Hill’s jumping took me there all the time and I just used the hills to fill him up again.

“I didn’t see one (a stride) at the last, but he did – I had visions of Annie Power! Thankfully, he knows better than me. He was foot-perfect everywhere.

“For the last two weeks I just decided to switch off all the white noise as it was just ridiculous – everybody was talking about it.

“The guv’nor had him in great order and I think he’s proved to everyone what a fabulous racehorse he is.”

He added: “On a personal level, it’s been a dream of mine to get the big three and I’m delighted I’ve achieved it.”

Constitution Hill ready to peak in Champion Hurdle assignment

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Constitution Hill is all set for his crowning moment when he lines up in the Unibet Champion Hurdle on day one of the Cheltenham Festival.

Nicky Henderson’s unbeaten six-year-old has had this date with destiny circled on the calendar since leaving a packed house at Prestbury Park staggered with an imperious display in last year’s Supreme Novices’ Hurdle.

His outings this season have only added to anticipation surrounding his return to the Festival and Grade One contests throughout the season have simply been reduced to tasters building up to the big day.

He brushed aside stablemate Epatante to win both the Fighting Fifth and Christmas Hurdle at a canter and Henderson finds it hard to argue with the evidence as racing’s latest superstar prepares to headline the opening day.

“You’d have to say he’s been round the track and broken records, so he’s done most things you’d want to see and he hasn’t done anything wrong,” said Henderson.

“He’s doing freakish things, but he’s only had five runs in his life and you have to remember that it’s very early days in his career. Normally when you’re coming to a Champion Hurdle you’re doing so on the back of between 10-12 races or something, so it’s hard to gauge really apart from the fact he’s done nothing wrong.

“His racing brain is brilliant. You could go three miles with him because you’d just switch him off and put him to sleep and then wait until you get the right moment and press the button. It really is as simple as that.”

See You Then helped put Henderson on the map with a hat-trick of Champion Hurdle victories in the 1980s and no man has won the race as many times as the master of Seven Barrows.

Trainer Nicky Henderson and Constitution Hill during a visit to Nicky Henderson’s stables at Seven Barrows in Lambourn
Trainer Nicky Henderson and Constitution Hill during a visit to Nicky Henderson’s stables at Seven Barrows in Lambourn (David Davies/PA)

However, it is easy to envisage that Constitution Hill could prove to be the best two-mile hurdler to have stepped foot in his Upper Lambourn base if providing him with victory number nine at Cheltenham on Tuesday and Henderson would love to reward the gelding’s long-serving owner Michael Buckley.

“It would be fantastic to win the Champion Hurdle for Michael Buckley,” he continued.

“He’s been with me an awful long time and we’ve had great times together, both highs and lows. He’s had a lot of good horses actually, but he’s also had some horrible luck on the way with what were going to be good horses that didn’t make it.

“I thought Spirit Son was going to be a world beater and he sadly died from an accident while he was on holiday, so various things have gone right and wrong.

“We’ve had some wonderful times with the likes of Finian’s Rainbow and Brain Power, but this is an extraordinary animal.

“His greatest asset is his head – not that it’s the prettiest – but his whole mind game is brilliant.”

State Man won the County Hurdle with ease at the meeting 12 months ago and has quickly progressed into a top-level operator.

He returns to the Cheltenham Festival as the Willie Mullins number one and second-favourite following his all-the-way success in the Irish Champion Hurdle.

He has the perfect profile to lay down a serious challenge to the overwhelming race favourite, but Mullins is well aware of the task at hand.

He said: “From everything he’s shown us all the time and the way he’s improving, we think he’s good enough.

“We’re living the dream at the moment anyway. If you beat Honeysuckle around Leopardstown you’d normally be thinking there’s only one more step to go, but Constitution Hill is there and a few more too.

“Constitution Hill looks the full package. He’s got speed, he can jump and he stays and he’s going to be very tough to beat.”

Vauban ridden by jockey Paul Townend wins the JCB Triumph Hurdle during day four of the Cheltenham Festival in 2022
Vauban ridden by jockey Paul Townend wins the JCB Triumph Hurdle during day four of the Cheltenham Festival in 2022 (David Davies/PA)

The master of Closutton is also represented by Vauban who picked up the Triumph Hurdle at the Festival last year and was third behind State Man at Leopardstown last month.

Improvement will be required to see him bridge the five-length gap with his stablemate, while the other Irish challenger in the seven-strong field is Gordon Elliott’s Zanahiyr.

Nigel Twiston-Davies’ I Like To Move It has a fine record on the old course at Cheltenham – winning the Greatwood Hurdle there in the autumn.

He was back to his best when tuning up with a wide-margin victory in Wincanton’s Kingwell Hurdle, while the cast is complete by last year’s fifth Not So Sleepy (Hughie Morrison) and Jason The Militant (Phil Kirby).

Constitution Hill faces State Man as seven line up in Champion Hurdle

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Hot favourite Constitution Hill will take on six rivals in the Unibet Champion Hurdle at Cheltenham on Tuesday.

The Nicky Henderson-trained six-year-old has been sensational since making his debut at Sandown in December 2021, winning all five of his starts under rules, including the last four at the top level.

He has not raced since sauntering to a 17-length defeat of stablemate Epatante in the Christmas Hurdle at Kempton on Boxing Day, but is long odds-on to give Henderson a ninth victory in the extended two-mile showpiece.

Willie Mullins saddles State Man, who has a little more experience and is unbeaten in six completed outings for his Closutton trainer after falling on his Irish debut.

State Man is one of two Willie Mullins' representatives in the Champion Hurdle
State Man is one of two Willie Mullins’ representatives in the Champion Hurdle (Lorraine O’Sullivan/PA)

State Man has similarly won his last four Grade One contests and heads to Prestbury Park as the Irish Champion Hurdle winner.

Mullins is double-handed with last year’s Triumph Hurdle winner Vauban lining up, while Gordon Elliott is responsible for Zanahiyr, who finished third in the race last year but has subsequently been disqualified.

Phil Kirby has declared Jason The Militant, while Nigel Twiston-Davies relies on I Like To Move It, who won the Greatwood Handicap Hurdle at Cheltenham in November and also the Grade Two Kingwell Hurdle at Wincanton on his last run.

The field is completed by Not So Sleepy, who represents Hughie Morrison.

McCoy excited to see Constitution Hill strut his stuff

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Sir Tony McCoy sees Constitution Hill as the horse that can generate all the right headlines ahead of his bid for Champion Hurdle glory at the Cheltenham on Tuesday.

The former jump jockey, a 20-time champion, mentioned Nicky Henderson’s gelding alongside some of the great names who have graced the sport under both codes in the past.

Though Constitution Hill can not quite yet be hailed as a champion, McCoy feels he has the potential to elevate the sport to the front pages if his performance in the Champion Hurdle is as sparkling as expected.

He said: “We all see horses and sportspeople that have moments of brilliance and Frankel’s 2000 Guineas (in 2011) was one of the wow moments.

“As jump horses you have to achieve a lot to elevate yourself from the back page to the front. There have only been few jumpers that have been capable of doing that – other than Desert Orchid, Red Rum, Kauto Star and Best Mate there have not been many.

Constitution Hill winning the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle at last season's Cheltenham Festival
Constitution Hill winning the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle at last season’s Cheltenham Festival (Mike Egerton/PA)

“I look back at the hurdlers in recent times, Hurricane Fly is the best of the most recent ones, while Istabraq is the best one I’ve seen in my time. What Constitution Hill has done the last two times has had the wow factor about it in the ease in which he has won.

“He has beaten a good mare in Epatante a couple of times, but after the Champion Hurdle we will get a different reading as if he is able to do the same to those rivals then he might be able to get on the front page.”

The six-year-old is unbeaten under rules and has won five races, including four Grade Ones, by a combined 77 lengths having never looked remotely beatable thus far.

“There is no doubt he is a talented horse and if you picked one of the jump horses you would love to own or train he would be the pretender you would pick that could be the superstar,” McCoy added

“Hopefully, Constitution Hill can live up to his reputation and deliver that success under Nico de Boinville that we all want to see happen.”

Henderson hoping for royal approval on the march to Cheltenham riches

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Unquestionably Constitution Hill would be the best chance. Jonbon would hold a fair shout. A victory for Marie’s Rock, Shishkin, Luccia or Epatante would be a bonus.

Yet arguably victory for any of those Nicky Henderson runners at the Cheltenham Festival would not give the Seven Barrows handler more delight than seeing Steal A March land the Pertemps Network Final.

The eight-year-old is one of five – or possibly six – runners the 72-year-old Lambourn handler will saddle in the race on March 17, insisting with a customary chuckle: “I’m doing a Willie Mullins.”

Unlike his good friend and rival Mullins, and while not averse to running stablemates against each other, Henderson is seldom keen to tread that path.

However, he is blessed with a particularly strong team of hurdlers who have few options but to take each other on.

Hot Champion Hurdle favourite Constitution Hill could be joined by a former winner of the race in Epatante, while First Street is another contender.

Marie’s Rock is a potential runner in an open-looking Stayers’ Hurdle, while Luccia heads a top team of novices, with Balco Coastal and Jonbon a pair of chasers who have massive potential.

Steal A March is a particular favourite, though. He gave Henderson huge satisfaction by winning a lowly Worcester handicap hurdle on June 4, as the Mount Nelson gelding provided the Queen with a winner during her Platinum Jubilee weekend celebrations.

Barbers Shop produced some memorable results for Henderson and The Queen
Barbers Shop produced some memorable results for Henderson and The Queen (David Jones/PA)

Henderson and the Queen enjoyed some fantastic and hugely-popular successes together, most notably with the classy chaser Barbers Shop.

Now that the purple, scarlet and gold colours have been transferred to the King, they will be carried in the Pertemps, a fiercely-competitive handicap hurdle over three miles.

Henderson is looking forward to seeing a royal presence at the Festival in a race where he could saddle stablemates Scarpia, Walking On Air, Captain Morgs, Call Me Lord and Mill Green.

“I very much hope there will be some representatives of the owners, which will be good for racing and good for Cheltenham,” said Henderson.

“He won on Derby day, which was very special. We were all trying to get winners that weekend for the Queen.”

Steal A March was a narrow runner-up on his seasonal bow in a decent Newbury handicap and then scored at Wincanton on Boxing Day.

“He has always been capable,” added Henderson. “He has improved a fair bit all of a sudden.

“I like his chances in the Pertemps. We have got quite a strong team for the contest to be fair, but I was impressed with him the last time. It would be nice for the King should he win. It would be absolutely great for the sport.”

The team at Seven Barrows will hope that a winner or two will be in the bag by the time the Pertemps is run on the meeting’s third day.

“The first day is our strongest day, so we need something to happen on Tuesday, because it gets harder work from there on. We start panicking after that,” he quipped.

Yet there is no stronger favourite at the meeting than Constitution Hill, who will bid to give the trainer a record ninth success in the Champion Hurdle following the victories of See You Then (1985, 1986, 1987), Punjabi (2009), Binocular (2010), Buveur D’Air (2017, 2018) and Epatante (2020).

Unbeaten in five starts, he has barely been tested and was 17 lengths too good for Epatante on his last run in the Christmas Hurdle at Kempton Park.

Nicky Henderson with Champion Hurdle favourite Constitution Hill
Nicky Henderson with Champion Hurdle favourite Constitution Hill (David Davies/PA)

He might potentially be the best in a very long line of superstars that Henderson has trained and arguably could become the highest-rated hurdler in history, higher even than the legendary Night Nurse.

Despite hearing all the perfectly valid reasons for thinking the Michael Buckley-owned six-year-old is the horse of a lifetime, Henderson is quick to quell such talk.

“Constitution Hill is doing freakish things, but he’s only had five runs in his life and you have to remember it is very early days in his career,” he said.

“Normally, when you are going to a Champion Hurdle, you go with a horse who has had 10 or 12 races or something.

“It is hard to gauge him really, except he has just done nothing wrong.

“He has a long way to go before I’d say he is potentially the best horse I’ve trained. It took me 10 years to say that Sprinter Sacre was.

“I like the involvement in a horse like this as you feel like you have achieved something, and people want to be part of a horse that has touched them somewhere.

“Horse racing is still a great sport and there is a great community involved. It is a great game that a lot of people really enjoy. What they do is appreciate very good people and very good horses.

“Everybody wants to know what he is up to in the village (Lambourn) but there are a lot of other horses here, and in other yards, that are just as important that have big days ahead.

“We all want him to be this superstar. We have been lucky having the Sprinters and Altiors, however you never get blase about it.”

Luccia is nominated as a horse with a big future
Luccia is nominated as a horse with a big future (David Davies/PA)

This time last year, Henderson nominated a horse outside of the obvious big guns that excited him. He offered up Marie’s Rock, who duly won the David Nicholson Mares’ Hurdle.

Ask him the same question 12 months on and he replies: “I think Luccia looks pretty promising for the future. Steal A March would be nice, wouldn’t it?”

At the meeting considered the Olympics of National Hunt racing, over the years he has saddled 72 winners, including six in 2012.

The last time he came away from Prestbury Park without a victory was 2008, so it would be a major shock should he fail to add to the laurels in any of the 28 races.

And with only Mullins fielding a stronger team over the four days, Henderson is heading there with plenty of hope.

“Cheltenham is very special isn’t it? Anybody who is in this game can’t deny it,” he added.

“It’s the four days which we all look forward to. I know it gets over-hyped. It gets everywhere, but there’s nothing quite like it.

“We all look forward to it, but you are tip-toeing on eggshells in the build-up, hoping the horses stay sound. Getting them there fit, healthy and in one piece is a major job in itself, never mind winning.”

Constitution Hill and Henderson the people’s champs, says Henrietta Knight

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Nicky Henderson and Constitution Hill are the combination racing needs as the Cheltenham Festivals draws ever nearer and the eyes of the broader public focus on the sport, according to Henrietta Knight.

As the trainer of the unforgettable Best Mate, Knight has experience of her own when it comes to handling the career of a top-class horse that the racing public have taken to their hearts.

Best Mate achieved the incredible feat of three successive Gold Cups between 2002 and 2004 and is immortalised not only in a life-sized bronze sculpture at Cheltenham, but also holds a permanent place in racing lore.

Like horses such as Red Rum and Arkle before him, he was the poster boy of National Hunt racing during his era and became a figure that even the totally unversed were drawn to – something that is now beginning to happen with Constitution Hill.

“I think racing and the country like to have a horse they can associate with and he is that horse,” Knight said of Henderson’s Unibet Champion Hurdle hotpot.

Henderson and Constitution Hill
Henderson and Constitution Hill (David Davies/PA)

“I think he is the horse that will capture the imagination of the people rather like Best Mate did. He was the people’s horse and I think that is what Constitution Hill is becoming.

“He is on everybody’s lips and he is the first horse that is mentioned when it comes to Cheltenham.

“He has not run many times, but what he has done has been spectacular. At the moment the sky seems to be the limit.

“I think it is the ease with which he has been winning his races that makes him stand out.

“He is very important for jump racing, and for the sport as a whole. He is the young pretender and this is what we need, a horse like this, and I think it is very important we have a horse like this.”

Constitution Hill winning the Ladbrokes Christmas Hurdle
Constitution Hill winning the Ladbrokes Christmas Hurdle (John Walton/PA)

Knight also feels Constitution Hill’s trainer has earned a similar status in the affections of the racing fraternity, with Henderson one of the best and best-liked figures in the sport.

She said: “From the days of having Best Mate it is very exciting as you are sitting on a crown jewel. Nicky is a top trainer and he deserves a really good horse like this again.

“It is lovely for him and it definitely adds to the story.

“Constitution Hill is starting to become the people’s horse and Nicky is the people’s trainer.”

Constitution Hill tops 12 in Champion Hurdle contention

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Constitution Hill heads 12 confirmations for the Unibet Champion Hurdle at Cheltenham on Tuesday.

Nicky Henderson’s charge is widely regarded as the pre-eminent star of National Hunt racing and will be a red-hot favourite to extend his unbeaten record under rules to six in the Festival’s day one feature.

The six-year-old won the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle by 22 lengths on the corresponding card last season and has since proved that was no fluke with similarly devastating displays in the Fighting Fifth at Newcastle and the Christmas Hurdle at Kempton this season.

There are two previous winners of the race in the mix in the form of Epatante and Honeysuckle, but neither are expected to line up, with the familiar foes instead set to clash in the Mares’ Hurdle later in the afternoon.

In their anticipated absence, the biggest threat to Constitution Hill appears to be Irish Champion Hurdle hero State Man.

The Willie Mullins-trained chestnut has established himself as comfortably Ireland’s leading hope this season by winning the Morgiana Hurdle at Punchestown and both the Matheson and Irish Champion Hurdle at Leopardstown – dethroning Honeysuckle on the latter occasion.

State Man and Paul Townend winning the Irish Champion Hurdle
State Man and Paul Townend winning the Irish Champion Hurdle (Lorraine O’Sullivan/PA)

Mullins is also set to be represented by Vauban, who won the Triumph Hurdle at last year’s Festival but has finished behind State Man in his last two races, while the veteran Sharjah also stood his ground.

Henderson could saddle First Street, although like Sharjah he has the option of running in the County Hurdle later in the week.

Gordon Elliott has left in both Zanahiyr and Pied Piper, while Greatwood and Kingwell Hurdle winner I Like To Move It has each-way claims for Nigel Twiston-Davies.

The potential field is completed by Hughie Morrison’s Not So Sleepy and Jason The Militant from Phil Kirby’s yard.

Constitution Hill sparkles in Kempton spin

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Constitution Hill was the star attraction as Nicky Henderson put several of his Cheltenham Festival contenders through their paces in a racecourse gallop at Kempton.

A trip to the Sunbury venue has become an annual event for the master of Seven Barrows as a means of putting the finishing touches to his big guns ahead of the the showpiece meeting in the Cotswolds.

The biggest gun of all bound for Prestbury Park in a fortnight’s time is Constitution Hill, who won the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle by a staggering 22 lengths at last year’s Festival and will return as a red-hot favourite to provide his trainer with a ninth Champion Hurdle success.

Ridden by Nico de Boinville, the six-year-old was joined by stablemates Captain Morgs (Paul O’Brien) and Ahorsewithnoname (Daryl Jacob) on Tuesday morning and while Henderson admitted it is not easy to find work partners for his pre-eminent star, he was delighted with what he saw.

He said: “It all went to plan. It was difficult to do because, as I’ve been saying all week, I’ve been hunting the country for a miler that I was going to get to jump in halfway round the back straight!

“To be fair, the other two boys have done a great job there, because they’ve just done their own thing and Nico has done his own thing. It was two bits of work happening at once and they did a good job as they just minded themselves.

“I wouldn’t bother writing something titled ‘A day in the life of Constitution Hill’ as it’s about the most boring thing you could write! That’s except for days like this of course, when he comes and does what he loves doing.

“I haven’t had one who’s given you the problem of how to work him. We always used to put Sprinter Sacre and Simonsig together because when you’ve got two really good horses like that, if you do put them together you’ve got to have two seriously good riders.

“Constitution Hill is fit and he’ll have another piece of work at home, but it’s quite difficult at the moment without the grass. Good old Barney (Clifford, clerk of the course at Kempton) let’s us come along and do that and I love doing it.”

Nico de Boinville and Constitution Hill stretch clear at the end of their workout
Nico de Boinville and Constitution Hill stretch clear at the end of their workout (Zac Goodwin/PA)

Constitution Hill carries the colours of owner Michael Buckley, who was on hand to see his pride and joy.

He said: “I’m looking forward to it and it’ll be fun, I hope the horse puts on a good show. As we stand here today, he’s potentially the best horse I’ve ever had and perhaps he already is. He’s got to do it on the big day though.

“My nerves are chattering away and have been for weeks! When you get horses that are odds-on like that, the expectation is that he’s already won the race.

“I feel that it’s a rather sad fact of life that if he only wins by a length or two, everyone is going to feel a sense of disappointment. I’ll be thrilled of course, but he’s done a lot of showy things and I guess people are hoping for a show.

“We need two bits of luck, we need to get there in good shape and then we need Nico to have a bit of luck in-running and get him round without any issues and then hopefully we’ll win.”

De Boinville fully aware of State Man’s threat to Constitution Hill

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Nico de Boinville has full respect for his Unibet Champion Hurdle rivals, despite his mount Constitution Hill being set to go off one of the shortest-priced favourites of the whole week at the Cheltenham Festival.

A brilliant winner of the Supreme last March, Nicky Henderson’s new superstar has won the Fighting Fifth and Christmas Hurdles with ease this season.

And although dual Champion Hurdler Honeysuckle has been rerouted to the Mares’ Hurdle, the main threat will still come from Ireland in the shape of Willie Mullins’ State Man, unbeaten for new connections since falling on his Irish debut.

“So far, so good with him, as with all of them we are slowly bringing them to the boil. It’s an exciting time of year to be involved with a yard like Seven Barrows,” De Boinville told talkSPORT2.

Trainer Nicky Henderson and Constitution Hill this week
Trainer Nicky Henderson and Constitution Hill this week (David Davies/PA)

“He’s honestly the most straightforward horse you could ever deal with, he’s got it all really. He’s so professional, he’s got a very good brain, so as a rider it’s a pleasure every time you ride him.”

De Boinville has partnered the likes of Gold Cup winner Coneygree, Altior and the magnificent Sprinter Sacre in his career, with Constitution Hill ranking firmly in their company.

“I never like to compare horses as they all have their own fantastic way of going about things, but he’s bang up there. He’s certainly the best hurdler I’ve ridden as all the exceptional horses I’ve ridden were good chasers. It’s fantastic to be going to a race like the Champion Hurdle with a really good chance,” he said.

“Anything can happen in a two-mile championship race. State Man has come through all his runs and was very impressive last time out. You can never take anything for granted and you have to respect the opposition

“I think one of the biggest changes is that Honeysuckle’s form has maybe slightly dipped and we’re not going to get the clash that was built up at the end of last season, but in State Man we’ve got a truly good rival. Hopefully it should kick off the Tuesday and get the Festival really under way.”