Constitution Hill Southwell Preview: Flat Debutant To Dazzle

All eyes turn to Southwell this evening as Constitution Hill swaps hurdles for the Flat in the 19:30 feature, a race that has the unmistakable feel of a stage set for one star attraction. The former Champion Hurdle hero carries huge expectation into this all-weather test, with connections opting for a carefully selected spot that allows him to run without obstacles to trip him up as they have so often of late. It is not often a single runner defines the narrative before the gates open, but this is no ordinary runner and no ordinary Southwell contest.

If you had told me in the aftermath of CONSTITUTION HILL's scintillating Champion Hurdle win, which came on the back of a bloodless first season in open company which followed an awe inspiring Supreme win - in a record time - that one day the horse would be running in a novice around Southwell on the all-weather, I'd have laughed in your face. There were always signs this brilliant racehorse was walking the tightrope with his fearless hurdling technique seeing him fly through the top of his hurdles on more than one occasion, but for him to have had a year off, return with a win at Kempton and then fall on three of his next four starts was not in anyone's crystal ball.

It is a sorry state of affairs, truth be told, that he is even here at Southwell on a Friday night. Undoubtedly the most exciting talent in my lifetime, Constitution Hill has the ability to go down as the greatest hurdler the sport has ever seen. That is not hyperbole. For one so brilliant to have lost his confidence jumping is heart-breaking, but Nicky Henderson and the team must play the cards they are dealt and for all there is much uproar from those within racing about the fact this lad is bred to jump and is a jumps horse so belongs nowhere near this flat event, I actually think it is a decision that minimises risk.

We punters and fans of the sport must also play the hand we have and I encourage you, whatever your opinion on the manner in which this race came to be, to try and enjoy it for what it is. A hugely intriguing affair which could yet have tremendous upside in nudging the Seven Barrows' team - notoriously one of the most cautious in the game - to once again roll the dice in the Champion Hurdle with their star attraction. It would perhaps have been better if his trial run was last weekend at Wincanton in the Kingwell, and if heaven forbid he tipped up again the spotlight would shine nowhere near as brightly as it would if he'd headed straight for Cheltenham, but this is the next best option and with the boosted prize money it has become a fascinating race to pick apart.

Square Necker has been the one for money since prizes were released and he has the most typical profile of a winner of a normal novice race like this, young and improving for a flat stable and with potential to leave a few of the tourists from the jumping game eating his dust out of the gates. The four year old actually has to concede five pounds to Constitution Hill but he will no doubt be primed for his life for this race by his new trainer and if he runs to the level he put in at Dundalk last time out, when leading them all a merry dance, he rates the chief threat.

Oisin Murphy has the job of steering Constitution Hill around Southwell, and hopefully the champion jockey stays relaxed if his mount does start slowly, but the man who was floated to be riding before Murphy's appointment Ryan Moore also has a very interesting mount in Daddy Long Legs for Willie Mullins. The worries regarding him are similar to those surrounding Constitution Hill in that he may dawdle out of the gates, but he has shown in his jumping runs when on a going day he does have pace to burn. I class Moore as the best flat jockey in the business so he's not one to discount.

The final jumper I'll mention, and the horse I'd be backing if I could only bet each-way, is Tripoli Flyer for Fergal O'Brien. The seven year old is a quirky character but on his last run for second in an Ascot handicap was a solid piece of form and he does have a win on his CV on the all-weather in a bumper, so we know he will handle the surface. He has been lazy at the start in jumps races in the past, which would be a disaster here, but if Billy Loughnane gets him out alertly I can see him hitting the frame at a fair price.

Sometimes, however, you have to let the heart rule the head. Constitution Hill could lose all chance sleeping in the stalls, he could show no willing to act on this surface or he could simply not have the flat speed - despite all the reports from insiders that he has worked tremendously at flat tracks before - but this is a horse who was shattering stopwatches up and down the land in his pomp and with the speed he's shown, which his camp insist he retains, he rates the most likely winner of this race. Everyone in racing should be praying he does, as it'll make his fascinating storyline of chasing Champion Hurdle redemption one step closer.