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The Official Constitution Hill Thread 2025/26
- Thread starter Truncheon
- Start date
Ian_Davies
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I've got 12/1 and 10s about him never winning another Champion Hurdle and 7/2 and 5/2 savers about him winning one more.
I was on him at 3/1 ante-post when he won his Champion Hurdle, but had to be against him in those Specials markets subsequently.
He's absolutely gone at the game - shocking AW gallop at Kempton Park, wind operation, poor Newbury gallop, won two soft races without running anywhere near his best form, ended up on the deck twice and then ran a shocker in Ireland.
Anyone still clinging to his peak ratings and planning on backing him wants sectioning.
There are thousands of other races and thousands of other horses to bet on.
I was on him at 3/1 ante-post when he won his Champion Hurdle, but had to be against him in those Specials markets subsequently.
He's absolutely gone at the game - shocking AW gallop at Kempton Park, wind operation, poor Newbury gallop, won two soft races without running anywhere near his best form, ended up on the deck twice and then ran a shocker in Ireland.
Anyone still clinging to his peak ratings and planning on backing him wants sectioning.
There are thousands of other races and thousands of other horses to bet on.
Len Madeiros
Journeyman
And for a few races last season, forecasts - without CH - were a sound investment.
Ian_Davies
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Place laying him was equally effective.
Everyone knows how brilliant he was in his prime, but it's all gone horribly wrong and all he does nowadays is start short prices and disappoint.
Slim
Rookie
- Joined
- Dec 6, 2019
- Messages
- 4,154
When did you start watching racing,?
Ian_Davies
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All joking aside, I think this subject touches on something that curses many punters - FEAR of missing out, FEAR of feeling or looking stupid.
It makes them back City Of Troy on dirt because they'd feel stupid and feel they'd missed out on betting on something historic if he'd won.
And it makes them keep backing a horse who once looked the best novice since Golden Cygnet and the best Champion Hurdler since Istabraq.
But that was then and this is now.
Stare at his peak ratings all you like, lap up all the guff in the media as if it were fact - neither will make this horse run 1mph faster on a racecourse.
"This aged well," someone might say of this post if he wins another Champion Hurdle.
But I don't fear looking stupid - this game makes everyone look stupid at times - and I know rank bad value when I see it.
Constitution Hill has become a form of addiction for some - time to go cold turkey.
It makes them back City Of Troy on dirt because they'd feel stupid and feel they'd missed out on betting on something historic if he'd won.
And it makes them keep backing a horse who once looked the best novice since Golden Cygnet and the best Champion Hurdler since Istabraq.
But that was then and this is now.
Stare at his peak ratings all you like, lap up all the guff in the media as if it were fact - neither will make this horse run 1mph faster on a racecourse.
"This aged well," someone might say of this post if he wins another Champion Hurdle.
But I don't fear looking stupid - this game makes everyone look stupid at times - and I know rank bad value when I see it.
Constitution Hill has become a form of addiction for some - time to go cold turkey.
The media cannot understand some things are just simple. Like, physically watching a horse bomb out in a public gallop. There must be a theory and narrative (especially if it's a big name) that everyone's eyes don't work and there's a bigger picture, something missing. It's like the Emperors New Clothes. We should all follow on with the media cheering on one thing, while your eyes see another
Ian_Davies
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Night Nurse remains the best hurdler I've ever seen (I'll never forget seeing him at Doncaster in 1978) - he didn't win as far but he beat much better horses in a golden era for hurdling.
barjon
Rookie
- Joined
- Aug 2, 2020
- Messages
- 4,511
They may often go ott, but unlike the flat where the top horse are like shooting stars, flashing brilliant for a short time before disappearing, the jumpers stay with us year after year. It’s like the difference between a fleeting affair and a marriage. That’s why I love jump racing (and I’m better on the punting front).
barjon
Rookie
- Joined
- Aug 2, 2020
- Messages
- 4,511
Close, but not as dominant and not quite as slick over the hurdles. It’s that risky flicking over the hurdles that has undone CH and that’s the bit we probably won’t see again.
Ian_Davies
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We will have to disagree - none slicker than Night Nurse for me.
My abiding memory of that January day on Town Moor in 1978 was being perfectly side on and watching through my binoculars at they jumped four out - it almost looked like Night Nurse galloped straight through the flight, his rise and landing were barely perceptible as he never even broke stride.
I saw a replay on TV later and he jumped it immaculately.
And what has Constitution Hill actually beaten?
Because Night Nurse beat Monksfield (also better than Constitution Hill imo), Comedy Of Errors, Lanzarote, Sea Pigeon, Birds Nest, Dramatist and many more besides in a golden era the current epoch doesn't even come close to.
My abiding memory of that January day on Town Moor in 1978 was being perfectly side on and watching through my binoculars at they jumped four out - it almost looked like Night Nurse galloped straight through the flight, his rise and landing were barely perceptible as he never even broke stride.
I saw a replay on TV later and he jumped it immaculately.
And what has Constitution Hill actually beaten?
Because Night Nurse beat Monksfield (also better than Constitution Hill imo), Comedy Of Errors, Lanzarote, Sea Pigeon, Birds Nest, Dramatist and many more besides in a golden era the current epoch doesn't even come close to.
NHughes
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"t makes them back City Of Troy on dirt because they'd feel stupid and feel they'd missed out on betting on something historic if he'd won."
I was on this one Ian
My defence is I got on plenty early before his Eclipse run which I was also on early at big odds (biggest win of that flat season) as I gathered he'd run in the States and absolutely smashed the sp
Could I have cashed out? Not worth it for a ten pound stake
I was on this one Ian
My defence is I got on plenty early before his Eclipse run which I was also on early at big odds (biggest win of that flat season) as I gathered he'd run in the States and absolutely smashed the spCould I have cashed out? Not worth it for a ten pound stake
Ian_Davies
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If you beat the price by a country mile, you're exonerated."t makes them back City Of Troy on dirt because they'd feel stupid and feel they'd missed out on betting on something historic if he'd won."
I was on this one Ian
Could I have cashed out? Not worth it for a ten pound stake
Len Madeiros
Journeyman
CH beat a subsequent Champion Hurdle winner, who should have been a dual-winner; and scared off the previous year’s dual-winner. CH had also beaten Epatante, who won a Champion Hurdle, and placed in two others
He also marmalised multi-G1 winner Jonbon in the Supreme. That performance was way beyond the Golden Sygnet win in 1978. And that’s the only comparator we can use, really.
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Ian_Davies
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Fair comment, Len - Golden Cygnet did look on the verge of something incredible when he fell and died at Ayr, though.
Len Madeiros
Journeyman
Oh, it looked incredible, for sure. Would love to have seen CH over at Punchestown in 2022, to take on Honeysuckle.
Len Madeiros
Journeyman
Two previous winners in that race, both pulled up. I think that was the last time, the ground was allowed to be that “good”. McCoy rode a great race, too.
Incredible performance that absolutely bottomed him.
edgt
Senior Jockey
It took CH from Dec 3 2021 to Jan 23 2025 to win ten consecutive races.
Night Nurse managed 9 or 10 in little over 12 months and returned from a few defeats to retain his Champion title before that Aintree dead heat before a sterling career over fences.
That is the difference .
Len Madeiros
Journeyman
Fair point, but we’ll never know how CH might have been campaigned with a less risk-averse trainer.
On sheer best performances - not longevity of career - I don’t think there’s much separating Night Nurse and CH. I also recognise that CH’s best performances are fewer in number than Night Nurse’s.
