Henderson confirms Constitution Hill to take summer break before autumn return

Constitution Hill will not be rushed back into action at Newbury. Nicky Henderson has decided the nine-year-old champion hurdler will take a summer break and return in the autumn, a call that keeps his elite status intact while avoiding another immediate test after a bruising run of setbacks.

The timing matters because Henderson is not protecting an ordinary horse. Constitution Hill has gone through a stop-start campaign since last spring, falling in the Champion Hurdle at Cheltenham on 11 March 2025, falling again in the Aintree Hurdle on 3 April, finishing fifth at Punchestown on 2 May, and then falling once more in the Fighting Fifth Hurdle at Newcastle on 29 November. Three falls and one fifth from his last four hurdle starts is a harsh record for any horse, even one of this calibre.

That is why the advice from Ryan Moore carried weight. Moore has ridden Constitution Hill to two straight Flat wins, at Southwell on 20 February and Kempton on 25 March, and he has said the gelding can hold his own at Group level over 1m4f. Those performances did more than reset confidence; they showed Henderson and owner Michael Buckley a different route for a horse whose hurdling season has been defined more by interruption than momentum.

The planned Newbury engagement on 18 April has now been shelved, with quick ground concerns helping drive the decision. That leaves Constitution Hill out of a meeting that is already shaping the spring picture through its Classic trials, including the Greenham Stakes, but his absence feels more strategic than cautious. Henderson knows the racehorse he has in front of him. The issue is not whether Constitution Hill remains a top-class talent. It is when, and in what discipline, he can be asked to prove it again.

For now, the practical road is clear. Constitution Hill will be freshened up, given the time his camp has been hinting at for months, and brought back for an early autumn campaign rather than a rushed summer target. After the stops, falls and false starts, that may be the most aggressive move of all.