Constitution Hill 12/1 down to 9/2 😀 goes to post at Kempton at 14.50 this afternoon and it feels like a proper occasion. Six rivals, Group 3 company, a mile and a half on the all weather, and the old boy taking the biggest step up yet in his new life on the level.
We all know what he was over hurdles. Untouchable at his best, the kind of horse you’d get up early for. Then the falls came and that chapter closed the wrong way. Instead of disappearing off to a paddock he’s come back as a nine year old on the Flat and won both starts since the switch, the second of them over this exact course and distance back in the spring. Not many horses get a second act like that.
The doubts are fair enough. He’s been off since March while this lot have been busy all summer, and Pride Of Arras turns up having won the Juddmonte International, which is a serious bit of form to be taking on cold. Dubai Future, Tornado Alert and Gethin are no mugs either. If he gets beaten today nobody can say a word about it.
But that’s rather the point. Nobody needed to send him back to the races at all. There’s something brilliant about a horse who owes the game absolutely nothing rocking up at Kempton on a September afternoon to have a crack at being a Group horse.
So all the best to him this afternoon. Come home safe and sound, and whatever happens after that is a bonus.
Good luck if you’re on.