CONSTITUTION HILL SENDS AUSTRALIANS AFLUTTER

By Graham Potter | Wednesday, February 25, 2026

Just the mention of the Melbourne Cup … and suddenly Constitution Hill is a name is being bandied about in Australia with everything from derision to delight … from ridicule to respect … the negatives in there being an unfortunate, unwanted and unnecessary response to an unlikely possibility.

What the champion hurdler really deserves after his glorious runaway win on the flat at Southwell is to be feted for his contribution to racing. In fact, his win on Friday and Ka Ying Rising’s unprecedented success at Sha Tin (eighteen wins in a row eclipsing the record of Silent Witness) on Sunday, provided cause for an absolute celebration of racing for those lucky enough to witness either of those performances.

In fact, this was a weekend where Constitution Hill and Ka Ying Rising put the ‘horse’ back in horseracing, bringing the spotlight back to exactly where it should be, with the crowd-scenes at both tracks … which were 9600km apart … being something to behold in terms of the adulation, excitement and sheer pleasure these two runners generated from their legions of fans.

Their popularity there nothing short of celebrity status.
Those local pundits who chose to decry any Melbourne Cup ambitions of Constitution Hill instead of acknowledging his elite standing and contribution to the sport, missed an opportunity to help further the good name of the sport. That’s their loss.

Referred to by many as one of the greatest hurdler of all time … certainly of his generation … Constitution Hill’s career has appeared to reach a tipping point in recent times.

After winning ten hurdle races in a row, including eight Grade 1’s, for some unexplained reason Constitution Hill fell in three of his last four starts over hurdles, coming down at Cheltenham, Aintree and Newcastle. Those series of setbacks caused trainer Nicky Henerson to carefully consider his next move … and that ultimately came down to giving Constitution Hill a race outing on the flat to see if he was still interested at all in being a race horse.

“Some decent horses pitched up for his first ever run on the flat where we were really trying to find out if he could have a career on the flat beginning as a nine-year-old,” explained Henderson, talking to SENtrack.

“The answer obviously was yes (Constitution Hill won by 9.50 lengths), so that set us another dilemma … do we still try and run in the Champion Hurdle, or do we concentrate on the flat … which is a bizarre thing to do with a horse at his age.

“That a decision only (owner) Michael Buckley and I can make.

“Oisin Murphy, who is the champion jockey, rode him in the flat race. Osin would like him to go around the world on the flat, while my stable jockey Nico De Boinville, who is his rider when he is jumping, would be horrified if we did that because he wants him to go jumping again. He’s not worried about the jumping bit.

“That’s what we have got to sort out right now, so, any Melbourne Cup story is a little bit wild at the moment.”

“He is essentially he is meant to be a jumper, but if we did go jumping with him again and somebody, either he or the jockey got hurt, my life would not be worth living …and that is the dilemma I have to face.

With the 2026 edition of the Champion Hurdle set down for March 10 at Cheltenham, Henderson and Buckley have precious little time left to decide the immediate future of their champion.

As for the Melbourne Cup … you would think there would be too many hoops for Constitution Hill to jump through … not least the veterinary protocols as a nine-year-old who has spent most of his career over jumps … but that, whether it goes either way, will be a another story for another time.

For now, let’s just give the horse the respect he is due along the way.