Horse Racing

Constitution Hill reigns supreme in Tolworth

Jonathan Doidgejon doidge8 January 2022
Constitution Hill and Nico de Boinville clear the last on the way to winning the 2022 Tolworth Hurdle at Sandown Park

Constitution Hill and Nico de Boinville clear the last on the way to winning the 2022 Tolworth Hurdle at Sandown Park

Constitution Hill cruised clear up the Sandown Park hill to win the Grade 1 Tolworth Hurdle on Saturday January 8 and establish himself as a leading Supreme Novices' Hurdle contender.

In doing so, the Nicky Henderson-trained five-year-old looked undisputedly the best novice hurdler seen in Britain so far this season.

Travelling well throughout off a pace set by Jetoile and Lorcan Williams, the Michael Buckley-owned gelding met all but one hurdle beautifully. As they turned for home Mr Glass and Harry Cobden had looked potential challengers, but once they popped over the second-last, Nico de Boinville let out a little rein and Constitution Hill quickly put daylight between himself and his field.
Clear by the last, he jumped it well and once his pilot was safisfied the £39,865 first prize was in safe keeping, he eased him down and still had 12-lengths to spare at the line.

The win ticked several boxes: Grade 1 triumph; proven ability to handle testing ground; the ability to travel easily in this quality of contest, and while there will be some tough nuts to crack from the Irish challenge at Cheltenham, the Seven Barrows inmate looked the real deal.

He was immediately cut to 47-25 for the Supreme by Planetsport Bet and, barring incident or injury between now and March, he will head to Prestbury Park with a big chance.

De Boinville said: "This is some horse, I couldn't believe when I looked round how far clear I was. That was bottomless ground, but he's made light work of it.

He's such a likeable horse, he's so easy, and I believe there's more to come. He's very, very straightforward.

"We knew he was good from what he was doing at home, but it's always nice to see it translate to the track and now he's backed it (debut) up.
"It was a great performance, he's push button - he's a jockey's dream.
"He was fantastic there today. I was blown away by that - that was special."
On a potential Cheltenham Festival showdown with Jonbon, De Boinville said: "I'm sure they'll meet at Cheltenham, all being well, and that will be a great match up. They're very different horses, with very different dispositions, but it's exciting and it's exciting for the yard."

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