CAN ANYONE CLAIM CONSTITUTION HILL ONE OF THE TRUELY GREATS OF THE HURDLING DIVISION?

I have no doubt that if were not for both sickness at Seven Barrows and his trials and tribulations with his jumping Constitution Hill would have won three Champion Hurdles. The record books show, though, that he only won a single Champion Hurdle and being the best horse only to have one Champion Hurdle hardly does him justice.

In the modern racing world of 'super-fresh campaigns', where the Cheltenham Festival is all that matters, in an era when trainers run scared of running their class horses in handicaps, it is almost impossible to compare the champions of the 1950's, 60's, 70's and 80's, with the champions of today. Persian War won three Champion Hurdls, 1968, 1969 and 1970, beating fields of 16, 17 and 14, opposition that featured previous champions, a future Gold Cup winner and a whole host of multiple big-race winners. Monksfield won Champion Hurdles in1978 and 1979, in an era that included Night Nurse, Sea Pigeon, Bird's Nest and Beacon Light. Sea Pigeon, obviously, also won two Champion Hurdles in the same era, though he waited until he was 10 and 11 before having his name etched on to the plinth of the challenge trophy. And then is the other 3-time Champion Hurdler Istabraq, who would have won 4 Champion Hurdles if it were not for a foot and mouth outbreak, a horse considered the greatest hurdler of all-time when he was racing and yet now his name is hardly mentioned in any sentence dedicated to Constitution Hill.

Also, the above, as with three-times winners Sir Ken and Hatton's Grace, they all ran in and won, usually off top-weight, top-class handicap hurdles. Nobody can contend that Constitution Hill's faultless, at least for the main part of his career, victories in conditions hurdles where he scared off opposition, can compare with the records of all of the aforementioned. And even in the age of artificial intelligence that can interpret and de-code ancient scripts, we can only guess at the result if Constitution Hill could have raced against Sea Pigeon, Persian War or Sir Ken. What we can say with certainty, even if he were to remain hurdling, is that Constitution Hill has had an easier life than any of the greats that have gone before him.

In horse racing we are all guilty at times of putting recency before history. This was proven when the Racing Post asked its readers who was the most popular racehorse of all-time and all those youngsters voted for Frankel! I still automatically shake my head in disbelief when I recall the day when both Desert Orchid and Red Rum were rejected in favour of a horse that did not resonate outside of the racing world. Constitution Hill is a very classy and carismatic racehorse; he had the potential to be one of the all-time greats, yet he fails partly because a great hurdler should be able to jump and partly due to failing on longevity grounds. I sincerely hope he proves his true greatness on the flat this season and you never know in the years ahead he will be remembered, along with Sea Pigeon, as being one the greatest dual-purpose horses, a horses as good on the flat as he was over jumps. But that he is yet to prove and aged nine he has such little time to prove his versatility. 

He leaves the National Hunt world, ironically at a time when hurdling is at a weak point, with only The New Lion with the profile to suggest he might win more than one Champion Hurdle and he, too, has people doubting his jumping technique. For me, Constitution Hill has not produced as convincing and exciting a performance since his Champion Hurdle success, with Jonbon the only truely great horse he has ever beaten. He has beaten what has been around, of course, though I would argue he has never beaten a Monksfield, a Sea Pigeon or Istabraq. It really is a case, despite all the hype, of what might have been with Constitution Hill and the form book would suggest this opinion to be valid.