Constitution Hill completely erased the memory of last year as he delighted Nicky Henderson in his pre-Cheltenham Festival gallop at Kempton Park on Tuesday.
The eight-year-old has an unblemished record under rules, winning each of his 10 hurdles starts with eight of those victories coming at the highest level.
However, he met with a setback during his warm-up gallop 12 months ago, when a lacklustre display revealed Henderson’s superstar was suffering from a respiratory infection which scuppered any hope of defending the Unibet Champion Hurdle crown he had won in sublime style in 2023.
A suspected bout of colic brought about an early end to his campaign in March before his gallops woes struck again prior to his anticipated seasonal bow in the Fighting Fifth Hurdle.
A laboured effort behind subsequently sidelined stablemate Sir Gino was followed by a short period of lameness that meant he did not hit the track until his triumphant return in the Christmas Hurdle on Boxing Day.
Constitution Hill marched to victory on reappearance in the Christmas Hurdle
He has since served a further reminder of his star qualities with victory at Cheltenham on Trials day and there was not a moment of drama in his mid-morning gallop at Kempton, with big-race pilot Nico de Boinville allowing him to pull clear of work partners That’s Nice and Aston Martini.
The horse’s owner Michael Buckley was also on hand and Henderson felt 12 months made all the difference.
He said: “Nico’s face, my face and Michael’s face will probably tell you it’s a different day. That’s him and it’s good to watch really isn’t it – it’s frightening to watch, actually.
“We’ve been so happy and you’ve just got to blank out last year. We knew before we actually came here last year that these horses weren’t flying and it was going to be harder to get through, whereas today everything has gone perfect.
“It was great that you’re (press) all here (to watch) and you can make your own minds up.”
Henderson does not expect Constitution Hill to complete too much more strenuous work ahead of his Festival target.
He added: “(He won’t do) much more. He had a good bit on Friday and that was to decide whether to come here and I was in two minds, but Nico said ‘I think he will enjoy it and it will be fun’ and that really will do him.
“It’s (Champion Hurdle) on the Tuesday, so it’s the first day so we’ve got two weeks to go and we wouldn’t want to do much more this week. He will jump some hurdles, probably on Monday or Tuesday of next week, and I’d say he’d probably have one more gallop on our grass.”
Constitution Hill will aim to regain his Champion Hurdle crown
Constitution Hill worked over two miles in company with his 126-rated stablemates, with Henderson admitting he did not expect That’s Nice and Aston Martini to keep pace.
He said: “That was a two-horse gallop and a one-horse gallop and we had to do that because there’s no point in the others trying to go with him, we know that. They were doing their own thing and it’s not as if he’s had to do anything – that was just pure, raw natural pace.
“It had to go right today, we all know that. He’s had a great season so far, that was great and we have a fortnight to finish our work off and our job is done, then it’s over to Nico.
“You would never tire of watching this horse, as that was very special. He’s very special.”
When Constitution Hill won on Trials day, he made a rare mistake at the final obstacle and a tongue-in-cheek Henderson suggested the weather could perhaps provide a solution to that concern.
He joked: “The sun may be down the racecourse that afternoon, they might not even have that last hurdle!”
