Christmas Hurdle Tips: Believe In Something

An absolute Christmas cracker is coming to Kempton on Boxing Day, with the returning Constitution Hill taking on the horse that has taken his crown as antepost Champion Hurdle favourite Lossiemouth in the Christmas Hurdle. Billy Grimshaw is fizzing with excitement for this one and makes the case to back Constitution Hill here...

It's a funny thing isn't it, belief? At Christmas time especially we see in the eyes of the young the joy that believing in something can bring. Of course, as time passes we all lose that sense of wonder a touch, but every now and then something comes along to remind us of its power. In racing, belief takes many forms: belief in a horse, a jockey, a trainer, or even just belief in the sport itself. This year, as the Christmas Hurdle at Kempton approaches, belief is what will separate the supporters of CONSTITUTION HILL from the doubters.

Of course there are pitfalls aplenty to weighing in behind this once splendid hurdler. He has been off the track for a year, we have had more updates than many of us have had Christmas dinners on the now dubiously iconic printout sheets of A4 from Seven Barrows / Nicky / Unibet. We all saw Sir Gino - no mug, let's remember - working all over the unbeaten Constitution Hill in the public gallop at Newbury, which led to the ever optimistic and level headed bunch on "Racing Twitter" warning the end was upon us for this brilliant but clearly growing evermore fragile hurdling force of nature.

He is trained by one of the most thorough and, certainly as the years have ticked by, most cautious handlers in National Hunt racing in Nicky Henderson, but make no mistake - this horse is in the best possible hands to mount a comeback. We all remember the iconic Sprinter Sacre coming back from problems far more serious than those Constitution Hill has faced in 2016 to regain the Champion Chase crown and send Cheltenham into raptures. The horse was not back to his glorious, spine tingling best, but he was still good enough to claim the ultimate prize and that was down to the masterful handling of Nicky Henderson. Constitution Hill has not been plagued with the issues Sprinter Sacre faced, so is it so fanciful to imagine he could be back to something like his best first time out here?

Perhaps he will never be quite as good ever again as he was in what - in my opinion anyway - was his best ever performance, the 2022 Supreme. That day he laughed at Jonbon, who has proven himself to be a definite Grade 1 animal, before blitzing away up the Cheltenham hill to score by 22 lengths. But will he need to be that good? Back in his prime he was lauded as 20lbs better than any rival around, compared and indeed proclaimed as better than arguably the best we've ever seen in Istabraq. Do we all really think an 80% Constitution Hill doesn't dominate this division?

In front of him stands a mighty foe - sorry Burdett Road and Lump Sum, I'm not talking about you - in Lossiemouth. She is undoubtedly Champion Hurdle class and barring a surprise defeat over Christmas last year (when arguably her rider was to blame), has an unblemished record. She travels into her races like a dream and looks a wonderfully uncomplicated proposition, with a delicious turn of foot which will put great horses without that electric turn of pace into her slipstream. Nowhere was this more evident than in her saunter to Hattons Grace glory past reigning Staying Hurdler Teahupoo last time out. This is a mighty mare, perhaps one day set to be in the conversation with Honeysuckle and Annie Power. But she is not Constitution Hill.

There will be some who make her the safe bet. The logical play. And there will be others who read pieces like this when definitively taking a side and shake their head, insisting no bet is needed to enjoy the spectacle this race will hopefully throw up. Perhaps they are right, but I'm a punter as well as a racing fan and if you'd told me in the height of Constitution Hill-mania we'd ever get odds against about this rocket ship again, I'd have been itching to take the price. He is the underdog here as I pen this piece, but he won't be for long. Belief and hope will win out.

So, as the bells ring out on Boxing Day and the Kempton crowd bubbles with anticipation, I invite you to join me in putting your faith in Constitution Hill. Let us celebrate his return not with doubt but with hope, and trust that his brilliance will once again light up the track. This is his moment to remind us why we fell in love with racing in the first place. Believe in something.