FEATURE NICKY HENDERSON
following the successful defence of his Christmas Hurdle title at Kempton Park and victory in the Unibet Hurdle on Festival Trials Day at Cheltenham in January. Henderson added “From last year, where he was all forgotten about, he is now the poster boy of Jump racing. He is not the glamour puss that Sprinter Sacre was. He was all James Bond if you like as he was so good looking, and swanky, and he knew it. But you get the feeling now Constitution Hill is starting to get the hang of this look at me a bit as the crowd are playing a game with him and he quite likes it. It has been wonderful seeing him back this season as it was a bitter disappointment not having him around at a crucial time last season, but he seems back to his best. I tried to thank all the racegoers after the Unibet Hurdle as we will need them all come the Champion Hurdle because the enemy is coming and we are going to need all the support we can get, but this is what it is all about.” And while Henderson believes Constitution Hill, who is unbeaten in all 10 starts under Rules, shares a striking similarity with See You Then, he refuses to put extra pressure on him becoming the first horse to win four Champion Hurdles.
interview afterwards as if I knew what I was doing. It was hysterical. It did sound as if I came straight out of Eton! It was a very special win and my dad (Johnny) was alive then. He was very kind, and he supported me wholeheartedly, but I don’t think he ever thought this would happen. There was a bit of satisfaction in that it could be done and dad was there to see it all happen.” As his career went on See You Then was given the nickname of See You When due to his litany of tendon issues which restricted his racecourse appearances. And while Henderson has taken the plaudits for saddling him to further Champion Hurdle wins in 1986 and 1987, he acknowledges his legacy wouldn’t have happened without the assistance of three key individuals. Henderson added: “There were three important people throughout the whole thing and that was Frank Mahon the vet, Glyn Foster, who looked after him, and Corky Browne, my old head lad. Glyn was the only man who could be in his stable. He respected Glyn and vice versa. I’ve got jerseys with holes in them everywhere where he used to rip bits out as he was a savage in the stable! Equally important was Corky, who was brilliant with legs and he did all the swimming with him. Without those people his story, and legacy he created, wouldn’t have been possible.”
He added: “The common denominator between all those lovely Champion Hurdle winners we have been lucky enough to have, with the exception of Punjabi as he wasn’t a
Fast forward to the present day and Henderson will be looking to secure a record-extending win number 10 in the race he has made his own at The Festival with jump racing’s poster boy Constitution Hill. And after a setback ruled the eight-year-old out of last year’s race he is once again the horse to beat in the opening day feature
clever hurdler, is that they were electric over their hurdles. As for Constitution Hill it might be hard for him to win the Champion Hurdle four times as he has missed a year, but let’s just see what happens this time before we think any further ahead.”
cheltenham.co.uk 15
Made with FlippingBook - professional solution for displaying marketing and sales documents online