Constitution Hill: Henderson star is 20/1 for Melbourne Cup win after confirmation that he will miss Cheltenham

• Constitution Hill will not run at the 2026 Cheltenham Festival 

• Nicky Henderson's hurdler was backed at a low of 1.330/100 to run in Champion Hurdle

• Flat should be next

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Wednesday 25 February

Where will we see Constitution Hill next? 

The Betfair Exchange market was pointing to it and now it's been confirmed - Constitution Hill will not return to the Cheltenham Festival. 

Trainer Nicky Henderson confirmed the news in a long post on X/Twitter which you can read below. 

It seems the risk of anything happening to such a high-profile and loved horse was too much for henderson and connections to bear. 

But having won at Southwell in such spectacular fashion, speculation now moves to where we may see Constution Hill next. 

The 2023 Champion Hurdler is priced up to win both the Ebor Handicap and Melbourne Cup.  He is 25/126.00 for the former and 20/121.00 for the latter.

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...

-- Nicky Henderson (@sevenbarrows) February 25, 2026

Market strongly suggests Constitution Hill will miss Cheltenham

Having been as short as 1.774/5 when the market first opened, Constitution Hill has drifted to around 3.02/1 to run in next month's Champion Hurdle, with the No option trading at around the 1.251/4 mark.

However, Nicky Henderson said on Tuesday that he is still 50/50 in his mind whether or not to run him at Cheltenham and that a decision will be made in the coming days.

Constitution Hill - who has fallen in three of his last four starts over hurdles - will have a crucial shcooling session today before Henderson and owner Michael Buckley make their final decision, with an official announcement expected to be made at the weekend.

Monday 23 February

Early market suggests Constitution Hill will be at Cheltenham

Constitution Hill is odds-on at 1.814/5 to run in next month's Champion Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival despite the clamour for him to have a campaign on the Flat after a scintillating win on debut at Southwell last Friday.

The 2023 Champion Hurdler has been largely disappointing over hurdles in recent seasons due to three high profile falls and a well beaten fifth of sixth in the Boodle Champion Hurdle at the Punchestown Festival last spring. And after his latest fall in this season's Fighting Fifth Hurdle at Newcastle it was suggested by many that he should be tried on the Flat.

And that's exactly what trainer Nicky Henderson and owner Michael Buckley did at Southwell last week, but probably not with the intention of Constitution Hill winning in the manner of a top class Flat horse despite being nine-years-old.

Since that win there has been much talk about whether Constitution Hill should stick to the Flat, with a tilt at the Melbourne Cup - currently 20/121.00 - in Australie muted in November, or have another try over obstacles with next month's Champion Hurdle the main target.

The Betfair Exchange has introduced a market where you can bet Yes or No on whether Constitution Hill will run in this year's Champion Hurdle with the former the early favourite at 1.814/5, while the No option can be backed at 2.1211/10.

We will keep you up to date with all the latest news and price changes as they happen in our rolling blog, while you can keep track of the odds as they change in real time at the top of this page.

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