Nicky Henderson pulls star out of Cheltenham Festival
NICKY Henderson spoke of his disappointment after he was forced to withdraw Constitution Hill from next week’s Cheltenham Festival.
Constitution Hill was favourite to reclaim the Champion Hurdle he won last year.
But just over a fortnight before the big race, the seven-year-old fell ill.
And, following a bad scope and blood tests, Henderson made the decision to pull him out on Monday.
He said: “It’s desperately sad.
“You walk on ice for 365 days of the year and you struggle through days to get to Cheltenham, then this happens just before.
“It would have been a monumental risk to run him and we are not prepared to take any chances.
“Horses are very fickle animals and they are desperately delicate.
“The week before he had been in brilliant form, but he can get sick, just like anyone else.
“Constitution Hill has been our great white hope since last year and, although there’s no such thing as a banker in racing, you would have expected him to be at the front of affairs.
“There is no pressure now, but we will do everything to see if he can reclaim his title next year.”
It’s a big blow for Henderson, but he still has high hopes of adding to his 73 winners at the Festival.
He said: “Cheltenham is the pinnacle of horse racing – like an annual Olympics – and it’s where everyone in the sport wants to be.
“We have got a good team to try and fight off the Irish invasion.
“You always look forward to Cheltenham, but it can be a horrible time of the year as there is so much that can go wrong.
“We are all geared up for it and are set to go, but you can only do that if you have fit and healthy horses.”
The Seven Barrows handler has had at least one winner at the Festival in every year since 2009.
And with runners such as Sir Gino (G1 Triumph Hurdle), Jeriko Du Reponet (Supreme Novices Hurdle), Jonbon (Champion Chase), Iberico Lord (County Hurdle), Shishkin (Gold Cup) and Luccia (Champion Hurdle), you wouldn’t bet against him adding at least one more winner to the list
