Constitution Hill confirmed his status as one of the hurdling greats with a breathtaking win in the Unibet Champion Hurdle.
Nico De Boinville tracked the front-running I Like To Move It before another slick leap from his mount carried the 4/11 favourite to the front two out.
At that stage market rival State Man moved into second but he was soon chasing shadows as the winner went smoothly through the gears before going long at the final flight.
The winning rider was able to enjoy the view on the big screen up the hill as his partner went on to score by nine lengths and provide Nicky Henderson with a ninth win in the race.
“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,” said the winning trainer..
“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.”
Is Constitution Hill Nicky Henderson's best-ever horse?
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.”
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