ARE the Irish running scared and ducking a challenge?
Have the home team got Willie Mullins and Gordon Elliott on the ropes?
PANicky Henderson will head to the Festival with a super strong squad[/caption]
Those are the questions one has to playfully ask as UK jump racing’s superstar Constitution Hill makes a surprise appearance on ITV at Cheltenham this afternoon.
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Nicky Henderson’s unbeaten eight-year-old faces what should be a facile assignment in the Grade 2 Unibet Hurdle, giving away a maximum of 6lb to four massively inferior rivals.
Both Irish class mares Lossiemouth (who was entered) and Brighterdaysahead (who was not given the option) swerve the event. The irony is there for all to see.
My Saturday NAP
Makes lots of sense each-way. He won the Paddy Power Gold Cup easily in November and ran better than the bare result in the December Gold Cup last time.
Henderson has often been accused of shirking challenges. But where are the Irish this weekend? Tucked up at home.
What’s more, while some have claimed Constitution Hill is turning up due to the driving force of owner Michael Buckley, he suggests that is far from the truth.
Buckley told me: “Nicky was up for it.
“I was chatting to him some time after the Christmas Hurdle (in which Constitution Hill beat Lossiemouth) and I said to Nicky it seems that the horse had taken his comeback far better than we as a team might have expected.
“Nicky was in agreement and said he was all for having another run. So here we are. Nicky is having a great season and I’m delighted for him.
“He’s a decent person in every single way. I can’t talk about him more highly than that.”
Constitution Hill goes into today’s event as the odds-on 1-5 favourite for March’s Champion Hurdle. Only a lap of honour will do today.
Today’s Cheltenham meeting is billed as ‘Trials’ day for the Festival in just over a month’s time, and it usually throws up at least one victor at the ultimate jumps smash-up.
That should certainly be the case.
East India Dock is currently the 6-1 second favourite for the Triumph Hurdle behind recent Ascot victor Lulamba who trades about 13-8.
The former goes in the Grade 2 JCB Triumph Hurdle Trial Juvenile Hurdle and should take all the beating on the back of two facile successes at Wincanton and at today’s track.
The James Owen-trained son of Golden Horn was a strong stayer on the Flat and jumps brilliantly.
This, though, should be a test with a fair number of rivals and French import Sauvignon making his debut for Paul Nicholls.
The Auteuil winner is sure to have cost plenty and could be anything.
It’s hard to believe the Grade 2 Cotswold Chase will have any bearing on the Cheltenham Gold Cup, even though fan favourite L’Homme Presse looks a firm favourite after his King George third.
I suspect Chantry House could cause an upset, but dual Gold Cup victor Galopin des Champs will not be losing any sleep.
More interesting for the future is the Grade 2 Betfair Cleeve Hurdle, which numbers recent Long Walk Hurdle hero Crambo and Strong Leader, who flopped in that event as the 11-8 favourite but who has since had a wind operation.
The key here is whether Crambo can reproduce Ascot form at Cheltenham.
He’s meant to have run at the course twice, but was a non-runner once and hopeless on the other occasion.
That all said he’s had a different preparation this term, and his victory in the Long Walk was a super tough one.
I’ll stick with him for Fergal O’Brien and Jonny Burke.
In ante-post markets for the Paddy Power Stayers’ Hurdle, Crambo is 16-1 (could look big if he wins) and Strong Leader 20-1.
Defending champion Teahupoo is topping the market at 11-8.
The other race definitely worth a mention is the Grade 2 Ais Novices’ Hurdle and the big horse here is Potters Charm, another who wasn’t expected to be running at this fixture.
Trained by Nigel Twiston-Davies, Potters Charm has won all five starts and already scored twice at Cheltenham.
He looks a special horse in the mold of the stable’s former classy inmate The New One.
In betting on the Turners Novices’ Hurdle at Cheltenham Potters Charm is 7-1 second favourite behind 5-2 shot The New One.
Today’s race should be a good guide to how Potters Charm is improving, with Grade 1 Challow third Bill Joyce a rival and no mug, and a few others open to all sorts of improvement.
A day when the strength — indeed constitution — of a number of Cheltenham Festival markets will be tested. Don’t miss it.
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