The prolific racing blogger Stephen Power (@racingblogger) posted a very simple question in the immediate aftermath of the Fighting Fifth Hurdle at Newcastle:
“If you owned Constitution Hill, what would you do now?”? First, the back story. From the first time Michael Buckley’s animal was seen on a course, he was seen as one of those special horses.
Very special. I have no problem admitting that I’ve never seen an easier winner of the Supreme Novices Hurdle. And it was the same 12 months thereafter when Nicky Henderson’s charge similarly turned the Champion Hurdle into a procession.
Though looking back now, one cannot help thinking of what my late father often said “Bad luck will always happen to a good horse”. Just as it had with Dawn Run or Istabraq or Harcon or Go Native. That list could stretch from here to Clieve Hill.
The presence of Constitution Hill in that realm now is somewhat shocking and bewildering. To fill in the blank here, the equine behemoth only jumped the first hurdle in Gosforth Park before hitting the deck… Again.
Now, that would be disheartening enough on the face of it, but, a social media post from experienced racing journalist Mike Cattermole sent conjecture into overdrive.
Mention of retirement for the Henderson horse, while drastic, is probably understandable. However, the second half of Catt’s utterance seems curios at best, utterly bizarre at worst.
The bespeckled broadcaster declared that the ‘Hill had “Fallen schooling yesterday (Friday) “. That surely begs two questions at least – one, why the hell were they schooling him the day before the race? Secondly, if they had schooled him on Friday and he had fallen, why did they let him line up in the race?
Michael Buckley is such a long standing and experienced owner that it is inconceivable that he’d allow the steed to take his chance if he thought he was even a molecule off form.
That said, I believe to retire the equine enigma straight away would be reactionary. There are other options. How about a change of scenery? In response to Racing Blogger’s pondering, somebody, presumably with tongue firmly welded to cheek, suggested “Send him to Willie”.
You know, it’s not the worst option by any means. A change of scenery can often recharge a horse’s spark for the job. On that, though, in all probability if he were to come to this side of the Irish Sea, it would most likely be to Jessie Harrington, given that the Rahanstown native has trained winners for Mr Buckley in the past.
Mind you, there may not be a need to go to the most drastic option of a relocation situation. Changes of scenery can manifest in different ways. The horse is rising 9-year-old in a few weeks time, but that would be no means impinge on any thoughts about sending him over fences. Indeed, I think it was the broadcaster and writer Matt Chapman who made the valid point about Nico De Boinville’s mount standing a country mile off his hurdles and that, in effect, he was landing on top of the obstacles rather than over them. Which, naturally, sends the pilot irreversibly catapulting out the side door.
You see, the series of events laid out immediately above are exactly what can transpire when a horse reverts to jumping hurdles after being schooled over the big fellas. And, not only has Constitution Hill absolutely been given trial runs over fences, Henderson has, unwisely in my view, been quite open about sharing the fact that he has done.
There is also the option as Willie has done with former jumpers like Vauban and Max Dynamite and Wicklow Brave and Simenon and True Self, for the Seven Barrows boss, to give his embattled star the opportunity to redeem himself with an Indian summer flat career.
There are a plethora of Cup races now on the Flat if connections were of a mind to let him try.
The reality is they may well end up hanging up the legendary white breast plate altogether. What a sporting shame that would be. Thinking of what was and what might still have been.
A horrible conundrum, I’d rather they try to figure it out than me!
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