Constitution Hill could be ready for Christmas Hurdle

The seven-year-old was ruled out of this Saturday's Fighting Fifth Hurdle at Newcastle due to "mysterious lameness" which has now been found to be less severe than initially feared.

“As we mentioned on Friday, we’ve had a fairly mysterious lameness that we couldn’t identify so he spent the day with the vets,” Henderson said in a video posted to X.

“First he had an X-ray to see if there was anything untoward, which would have been very unpleasant, ultrasound scans and X-rays revealed nothing.

“An MRI scan identified a small area with a bit of inflammation in his pastern, near fore, that was actually touching the nerve, and that’s what was making him so sore.

“That would have been very sore, but I’m glad to report from being noticeably lame, very noticeably lame, on Friday and Saturday, he’s miles better this morning.

“We are starting some gentle walking exercise today with a really serious hope we can get back on the road so we can continue his preparation, which will hopefully now lead us to the Christmas Hurdle.

“Obviously the Fighting Fifth is out, but the Christmas Hurdle is still realistic.

“He won it last year, so let’s hope that’s where we can get him out and he can get his great career back on track.”