Nicky Henderson is hoping for rain to allow former champion hurdler Constitution Hill to make his Flat debut on turf at Windsor on Saturday in the Listed Weatherbys August Stakes.
The horse, who switched codes in February after three falls in four races, has been entered among 19 contenders for the extended one-mile-three-furlong event. Henderson pinpointed the race as a possible objective in mid-July, but with dry conditions persisting, the September Stakes at Kempton on the all-weather serves as a back-up option.
Recent form and campaign start
Constitution Hill recorded a seven-length victory at Southwell before a record crowd and followed up with another novice stakes win at Kempton in March, ridden by Ryan Moore, who said he “has certainly got enough pace to be competitive in Group races at a mile-and-a-half.”
Henderson said: “All these races are going to be very competitive, I'm sure. I think quite a few are waiting for some rain and I can see what will happen because if it doesn't rain, you'll probably find we'll all be in the Kempton race as well.”
“He's in very good shape, we couldn't be happier. It will be his first run in a while, he's had a good break. He's ready to start, his campaign starts here and we'll see where we go afterwards.”
Stiff test and decision timeline
Henderson hopes the race will reveal how far Constitution Hill can progress in Flat rankings after his next appearance. He said: “You're going into a different game. He's run in two novice races, let's face it, and that told us he can run quite fast over a mile and a half, but that's all he had to do on those occasions.”
“This will be different altogether – it will be a very stiff test, but it will tell us where we are.”
“We're all hoping for the rain, but we'll just have to see what happens. The good thing is you've got Kempton as a back-up there and he's got to have a run now. He's ready to run to get us ready for whatever we're going to do next, but I've no idea what that is.”
He added: “We want to make a decision as early as possible, for everybody's sake. There's no point getting into a situation where we're umming and ahhing on Friday and then taking him out on Saturday morning.”
“We appreciate that he's very popular and that people will want to go and see him. The last thing we want to do is take him out at the last minute because the rain hasn't materialised.”
