Constitution Hill Horse may have missed the Cheltenham Festival after picking up an infection but trainer Nicky Henderson is eyeing a trip to Ireland later in the spring instead.
The Punchestown Festival is the destination the Seven Barrows supremo has pinpointed if his stable star shows the right signs over the next few weeks.
Michael Buckley bought Constitution Hill for £120,000 in May 2021 and what a purchase the son of Blue Bresil has proven to be.
Buckley has owned horses for a number of decades now, with notable runners including Beat That, New York Rainbow, Spirit Son and Toast Of New York all sporting his famous white silks over the years to varying levels of success, although this current recruit is proving to be the best of the bunch by some way.
Like the majority of Buckley's horses, Constitution Hill is trained by legendary figure Nicky Henderson.
Henderson began training in 1978 at his Seven Barrows yard in Lambourn, Berkshire, where he has operated from ever since.
He is regarded as one of the sport's best ever trainers, having been responsible for 73 Cheltenham Festival winners and countless other big successes at various tracks in the UK and Ireland.
He endured a difficult 2024 Festival, with plenty of poor runs and issues plaguing his team resulting in the withdrawal of many big names, including Constitution Hill, but he is still a brilliant trainer and should be back amongst the winners sooner rather than later.
Constitution Hill is a seven-year-old gelding, having made his debut as a four-year-old at Sandown back in 2021.
Henderson's charge is the highest rated hurdler in British racing with an official mark of 175, 12lb higher than stablemate and second-best Shishkin.
His opening mark was a lowly 148 but he was immediately raised to 170 once his potential was clear for all to see following his handicap debut.
He earned his current mark of 175 following his success in the Champion Hurdle at the 2023 Cheltenham Festival and has since won twice off the same rating.
When will we next see Constitution Hill? That is the question on every racing fan's mind, but it seems Nicky Henderson has finally given us a hint as to when his star of the sport will return, with the Punchestown Champion Hurdle the target.
Henderson stated on the 19th March that: ‘We've been testing his [Constitution Hill's] blood every Monday since his racecourse gallop at Kempton and it's continued to correct since then, so we're happy about that. He's ticking along now. He's virtually repaired and well, and he's back in normal training. We've been looking at Punchestown, but we must bear in mind the fact he's been genuinely unwell.”
There have been signs of improvement in training according to the Lambourn-based trainer and he is back in full work. Aintree will definitely come too soon, but Punchestown seems a realistic target, albeit not a certain one as his issue was clearly serious.
Henderson continued to say "If he's ready to go to Ireland then that would be fantastic, but we're taking it step by step and if he doesn't give us the right signals then we want to be ready for next season's Fighting Fifth."
Constitution Hill's health is the most important thing, and Henderson and his team are sensible enough to do what is right for their star.
Constitution Hill won two open Grade 1s in 2022, with success in Newcastle's Fighting Fifth Hurdle and then the Christmas Hurdle at Kempton.
Those wins were by a combined margin of 29-lengths and with Nico de Boinville's partner scarcely taken out of second gear.
They created a veneer of invincibility around Henderson's latest superstar, which was enough to strengthen his position as favourite for the Champion Hurdle.
There was enormous hype surrounding Constitution Hill, who won the Supreme Novices' Hurdle by 22 lengths from Jonbon at Cheltenham in March 2022.
Some observers may have questioned whether he was really as good as others claimed, but he answered the doubters emphatically with another Festival victory in 2023.
The six-year-old was prominent throughout the Champion Hurdle and justified the 4/11 favourite tag with a stunning display which saw him win by nine lengths from State Man - and the margin of victory could have been wider.
Connections then decided to run him at the Grand National Festival in April and, once again, the gelding delivered the goods with a three-length victory over Sharjah in the Aintree Hurdle over 2m4f.
His seasonal reappearance at Kempton on Boxing Day was ominous as he triumphed in the Christmas Hurdle, and it was seemingly full steam ahead for the Cheltenham Festival.
Unfortunately his poor scope at Kempton led to his withdrawal from the 2024 Festival and he was denied a chance to defend his Champion Hurdle crown at Prestbury Park, but there is every chance he returns in flying form.
After just eight runs over hurdles, Constitution Hill has racked up a mouth-watering prize money figure of £731,642 - with all of that sum being earned via wins.
Constitution Hill's high-profile poor scope after a Cheltenham warm-up at Kempton, and Henderson's subsequent withdrawal announcement, sent shockwaves through the racing sphere, with many ante-post punters among those most hurt by the news.
However, as detailed above, the sport's biggest star seems to be on the mend and his trainer has confirmed he resumed full work the week after the 2024 Festival.
Henderson had a number of horses pulled from the Cheltenham Festival but he has since stated that: "We still have no idea what was troubling some of the other horses, but it's different to what was affecting Constitution Hill."
He then went on to say that what had affected the son of Blue Bressil was 'bizarre' highlighting the abnormality of his issue.
He then went on to say that what had affected the son of Blue Bressil was ‘bizarre' highlighting the abnormality of his issue.
But luckily for Henderson, punters, fans and the sport, Constitution Hill is on the mend at last and everybody will be eager to see him at Punchestown should he recover in time.
Any odds displayed were correct at the time of writing and are subject to fluctuation.