Constitution Hill retirement update given after Newbury workout ahead of Fighting Fifth

Nico de Boinville expressed satisfaction with Constitution Hill's performance despite the horse being eased in the betting for his upcoming return in the BetMGM Fighting Fifth Hurdle at Newcastle after a workout at Newbury on Tuesday

Constitution Hill, trained by Nicky Henderson, was last seen in public in February at Kempton Park, with an infection forcing him to miss his Champion Hurdle defence at Cheltenham the following month. His 2023/24 season was limited to a single run in the Christmas Hurdle at Kempton, as Henderson opted not to run him in the rearranged Fighting Fifth at Sandown due to testing ground conditions.

De Boinville, who rode Constitution Hill during the Newbury workout, reported: "He felt great until about the two (furlong marker) and then he's had a really good blow."

The jockey continued: "He's come off looking like he's had a really good piece of work. It's soft ground out there and he just needed it a bit, but that will bring him on."

De Boinville also noted Constitution Hill's eagerness during the workout, saying: "Turning into the straight, he really locked on and I was just having to say 'whoa, we've got four furlongs to run' so all the ability is there, it's getting him up to full fitness."

The jockey concluded that the workout would significantly benefit the seven-year-old with one more piece of work and a schooling session planned before his return to competition. When queried about whether he felt a change from the Kempton outing, De Boinville confirmed: "Too right. At Kempton I was struggling going into the back straight, I could have pulled him up there and then and probably should have done, but today was great Sir Gino is a very good horse himself."

There had been rumours of a potential retirement for Constitution Hill but Daily Mail sports writer Dominic King has since scotched those. "There is a tweet going around that Constitution Hill won't race again," he wrote on X. "Having seen him work this morning and after literally just spoken to Nicky Henderson and Nico de Boinville about it, the tweet is the work of a fantasist."

Following the gallop at Newbury, BetMGM's UK director Sam Behar commented on the market reaction: "The last time we saw Constitution Hill gallop it set alarm bells ringing and today's outing at Newbury perhaps wasn't quite as promising as many would have hoped."

"Stablemate Sir Gino seemed to work better than the 2023 Champion Hurdler and as a result we've pushed Constitution Hill out to 5-6 from 4-6 for next Saturday's Fighting Fifth Hurdle at Newcastle."