Dan

29 / London

[Nicky Henderson @sevenbarrows]

Michael Buckley and I have not surprisingly spent a lot of time soul searching and thinking over Constitution Hills future and have sadly concluded that he will not be running in the Unibet Champion Hurdle the week after next.

Last Friday night was for us all a magical occasion and we so appreciated his popularity and the love and admiration everybody showed to Conrad , as he is fondly called here.

It was a terrific night for both him, us, and I believe British Horse Racing and we are very aware of the public perception and the possible consequences of running over hurdles and feel it is not fair to ask him and Nico to do it again.

He showed on Friday night that he has another career in front of him that could possibly take us all to new playing fields. I would like to thank the thousands of Constitution Hills supporters and admirers that have shared their sentiments with us and advice on how we should proceed, and I would have to say the poll was as near 50/50 as you could get.

This is a sad day for a lot of us, particularly the National Hunt fraternity that would have liked to have seen Constitution Hill try to regain his crown and sad for all here especially Nico who has spent so much time trying to iron out our jumping issues.
However he leaves the jumping world sound & happy and ready for the next chapter. It has been a staggering journey so far and Michael has had to endure some dark days but of course enjoyed the enormous highs and thrills of an extraordinary horse.

Cheltenham have kindly invited Constitution Hill to parade on Champion Hurdle day to give all his National Hunt supporters the opportunity to say goodbye.

[PDC Darts @OfficialPDC]

MUNYUA MAKES HISTORY! 🇰🇪

INCREDIBLE!

David Munyua produces one of the biggest shocks in World Championship history to dump out Mike De Decker!

What a moment for Kenyan darts!

#WCDarts | R1

[At The Races @AtTheRaces]

KA YING RISING reaches the summit and wins The Everest! 🇦🇺💰

[Peter Oborne @OborneTweets]

This superlative article by Jonathan Liew argues, in effect, that Manchester United under the Glaziers has turned into the Thames Water of the premier league. Everyone who cares about football should read it. So should everyone who loves Britain:

https://t.co/7jbYkgMfJE

[Manchester United @ManUtd]

David Moyes says #mufc must improve in a number of areas, including passing, creating chances and defending.

[Chris Winterburn @cmwinterburn]

BT having all matches behind their paywall, state owned clubs, one team with a monumental advantage over the rest of the pack and being favourites every year and away goals taken away withdrawing the jeopardy/excitement that made KO stages great. Unless you’re interested in one of the teams, it’s simply not worth watching.

[Jon Sopel @jonsopel]

Delete HS2
Insert Network North
Problem is having been promised HS2 by successive Conservative PMs since 2010, why would you believe that a mass of other infrastructure projects being announced today was will be delivered?

[Sky News @SkyNews]

Tesco and Sainsbury's using 'potentially dodgy tactics' with loyalty card prices, Which? claims https://t.co/kJ57T4rLGB

[Adam Crafton @AdamCrafton_]

Remarkable in so many ways, this.

[Lewis Goodall @lewis_goodall]

Have been covering this for years but feels as if things have stepped up to absolute car crash levels in last year or so. Now almost impossible for young people even with decent incomes to reliably find somewhere to
find somewhere decent to live, never mind everyone else.

[Becky Barrow @beckymbarrow]

The saddest story in this weekend's edition? The number of teenagers doing a modern language for A-level has gone into freefall

Since 2013, German A-level -45% and French A-level -37%

https://t.co/AkMMfPB3fS

[David Ornstein @David_Ornstein]

🚨 A number of clubs will voice concern to PL on proposed Saint-Maximim move to Al Ahli. They say Newcastle using PIF duel ownership to inflate fee & help FFP + want PL to explain ‘market value’ process. #NUFC very comfortable with valuation @TheAthleticFC https://t.co/hB1WNCg8To

[Sofia Horta e Costa @SofiaHCBBG]

Asking rents in London are 28% higher than before the pandemic, and at a record £2,567 per month on average. AVERAGE. What a time to be alive.
https://t.co/Vlmy7FnPYm

[Adam Crafton @AdamCrafton_]

Important reading https://t.co/mDamNjAGAn

[Jade Azim @JadeFrancesAzim]

Trying to find food or drink after 12am in London is *absurd* by the way. Going theatre then trying to do anything sociable in one of the world’s busiest cities should not be this difficult. So many questions to be asked.

[Adam Crafton @AdamCrafton_]

Lampard on Diary of a CEO by end of February latest imo.