Champion Hurdle Tips: The Greatest To Regain His Title

In the feature race of what many believe is the best day of the year, Day One at Cheltenham, a clash for the ages awaits with superstar mare Brighterdaysahead being bravely campaigned by connections and taking on the mighty Constitution Hill. Billy Grimshaw applauds the guts shown by Gigginstown and Gordon - in stark contrast to connections of another mare - but thinks they'll be leaving Prestbury Park disappointed once more...
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I won't be too negative to kick things off on what should be a day we celebrate, but I am hugely disappointed in the Ricci / Mullins / whoever else has been involved team in making the decision to send Lossiemouth back to the Mares' Hurdle rather than take her chance here. All season they have droned on about how this has been a "two year plan" and she was always destined to be a Champion Hurdler, yet when push came to shove they've cowered away from the big dance once again and sent her for a race where she will be odds-on, a race that she won easily last year and a victory that will elicit a mere shrug from everyone not on her at a nice antepost price.
Were they to have said all season it's all about winners, I'd have no problem whatsoever with their decision, but you'd have thought they'd have learned from the Vautour episode all those years ago. Ah well, enough about the major absentee, we still have a smashing race to look forward to in the 2025 Champion Hurdle and that is in no small part down to Gordon Elliott and Gigginstown's bravery in sending the apple of their eye Brighterdaysahead here when throughout the winter they had looked destined for the easier outing in the Mares'.
The gang at Cullanta think the world of this mare and it is brilliant to see them roll the big dice again with a brilliant mare, as they tried to do unsuccessfully a few seasons back with Apples Jade. There seems to be no doubt in the yard that Brighterdaysahead is a better horse than that mare ever was, but the issue is she is facing off with a freak from another stratosphere to anything Apples Jade - or any horse since Istabraq truth be told - have had to contend with. Brighterdaysahead has seen off defending Champion Hurdler State Man twice this season and should defeat him again unless she proves once again not to enjoy Cheltenham, but beating CONSTITUTION HILL is a whole different ball game.
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There can be no doubt what Brighterdaysahead did on the clock and visually last time out at Leopardstown, when sent off in pursuit of rapid pacemaker King Of Kingsfield, who'll be in here again to help out the mare running in the same colours, and eventually easing past him and pounding her way to the line in a rapid time. This was a serious performance, a performance worthy of heading to Cheltenham as a warm Champion Hurdle favourite in most years. But this is not most years. This is the Constitution Hill era and he will not lose a moment's sleep over what the mare brings to the table.
We may never see Constitution Hill back at the awe inspiring level he was in 2022 when he had the stopwatch brigade and the clerk of the course scratching their heads and wondering if they'd made mistakes with the going description considering just how otherworldly quick he had won a soft ground Supreme at the age of five. His next season was a serene procession back to Prestbury Park when he won the Champion Hurdle from a good horse in his own right State Man in a canter, and at that point he looked to have the world at his feet.
However, things went off script from there and he missed a large portion of the 2023/24 season, including Cheltenham, due to health issues and there were plenty worried at the beginning of this campaign on the back of his lacklustre gallop that the star that had burned so bright so young was already burnt out. I was sweet as can be on him in his comeback in the Christmas Hurdle and was delighted to see him laugh at Lossiemouth et al before seizing up a touch once the race was won, which was to be expected for a horse coming back off a long break, and I've not lost faith that this horse is the best I've seen and potentially is the best hurdler this nearly thirty year old scribe may ever witness.
King Of Kingsfield is entered here to make it a true test of stamina for his stablemate Brighterdaysahead, but they could feasibly set the race up to finally allow this special talent in Constitution Hill to produce a performance both visually and on ratings that puts him at the very top of the tree on all metrics in terms of all time hurdlers. If the mare is on her A game and takes it up from the long time leader about three out and Nico is still cruising next to her as they make the home turn, with State Man and the rest hard at work in behind, this will be the race of the week and potentially the decade. Watching Constitution Hill's turbo kick in and seeing him pass a world class rival will be a sight to behold.
I've just drooled over my keyboard at the prospect, so back to business. Constitution Hill will regain his title and hopefully the race is tailormade for him to do it in style.