Marcus Townend
Racing Correspondent at Cheltenham
GET there early, get a good view. If you are lucky enough to be one of the thousands flooding into the Cheltenham Festival today, do not miss it. This could be an ‘I was there’ moment. If you are at home, tune in, sit back and take it all in because the remarkable Constitution Hill will stake his claim to be one of the greatest jump horses of all time when he guns for the Champion Hurdle on the opening day this afternoon. Constitution Hill, who is the incredibly short odds of 1-3 favourite to beat his six rivals, has only raced five times — but each time he has destroyed the field.
He has captured the imagination of the racing public but today can move front and centre of the general public’s consciousness. The six-year-old has been hailed as the perfect racehorse — an equine athlete with an F1 engine and the laid-back temperament and reliability of a Volvo. Trainer Nicky Henderson has already won the Champion Hurdle a record eight times but in Constitution Hill, a gelding he describes as ‘extraordinary’, his ninth success could be the most spectacular yet. Constitution Hill could easily have an impact on the sport as far-reaching as the great Frankel, the colt rated the best ever to race on the Flat, who won all his 14 races for his late trainer, Sir Henry Cecil. This afternoon in front of a day one Festival crowd of almost 65,000 and with hundreds of thousands watching on television, the stage is set to send the message of his brilliance