Constitution Hill

There are few more respected figures in French National Hunt racing than Nicolas de Lageneste.  It seems as though everything de Lageneste turns his hand to, be that breeding, training or simply owning racehorses, it is a success. Last year he completed the rare achievement of being crowned champion National Hunt owner and breeder in the same season. Nobody has ever done that before.  Fewer still would be capable of nurturing a horse like Il Est Francais (Fr) (Karaktar {Ire}). Not only did de Lageneste breed the superstar chaser, who...

Constitution Hill (GB) (Blue Bresil {Fr}) will not run at the Cheltenham Festival, trainer Nicky Henderson has announced. The unbeaten and defending Champion Hurdle hero worked poorly at Kempton Park last Tuesday, putting his participation at the showpiece meeting in major doubt. A scope showed mucus in his lungs and despite slightly more positive news in the following days, results of a blood test on Thursday proved to be another blow. However, Henderson stressed that another blood test on Monday would probably prove to be the "acid test", and on...

Day two of the Tattersalls Ireland November National Hunt Sale followed a familiar theme with the progeny of Blue Bresil (Fr) and Walk In The Park (Ire) dominating proceedings once again. The sire of the reigning Champion Hurdler Constitution Hill, Blue Bresil was responsible for four of the top eight foals through the ring on Monday, including a €97,000 colt that was sold by Ballykineally Stables to Coolmara Stables. Mossy Barry of Ballykineally Stables commented, "He is out of the mare Beautiful War-we bought her and she was well-named as...

Stars and unsung heroes from the world of jump racing were honoured Thursday, Sept. 21 at the sixth annual The McCoys in front of an invited audience at Cheltenham. In determining winners at The McCoys, performances over the course of the 2022-23 Jump season at all Jockey Club Racecourses that stage jump racing are taken into consideration namely Aintree, Carlisle, Cheltenham, Exeter, Haydock Park, Huntingdon, Kempton Park, Market Rasen, Sandown Park, Warwick and Wincanton. Among those honoured on the night was eight-time champion jump jockey Peter Scudamore, who received the...

The 450-strong catalogue for the Goffs UK Spring HIT/PTP Sale, which is set to take place May 24-25, is now available online. Supplementary entries will be taken between now and the week of the sale. The sale comes on the heels of the two-day Spring Store Sale, and opening day Wednesday is dedicated to more than 200 point-to-pointers and young form horses. Day two is dedicated to a mix of horses-in-training with promising younger horses, proven performers and breeding opportunities. "Success on the racecourse is the ultimate barometer of any...

A total of 15 point-to-point entries have been catalogued so far for the 2023 Goffs UK Aintree Sale on Apr. 13. Held in the winners' enclosure following the last race on the card, additional entries will be released in the coming days. Star alumni of the sale include Grade 1 winners Constitution Hill (GB) (Blue Bresil {Fr}), Honeysuckle (GB) (Sulamani {Ire}), Jonbon (Fr) (Walk In The Park {Ire}), and Ahoy Senor (Ire) (Dylan Thomas {Ire}) among others. Included in the catalogue are Illico De Cotte (Fr) (Kitkou {Fr}) (lot 112),...

CHELTENHAM, UK--One champion crowned as another exits. But there was no quiet shuffling off, stage left, for Honeysuckle (GB) (Sulamani {Ire}), who was roared home, roared in, and roared out of the Cheltenham winner's circle that provides no better setting for equine coronations.  Just forty minutes earlier the new king of the hurdling division, Constitution Hill (GB), had delivered exactly the performance expected of him but one which can never be guaranteed in the hurly-burly of championship races at the Festival. Plenty of commentators are already suggesting that the son...

Venturing fearlessly into jumps territory this week, this correspondent would never be so bold as to offer tips or predictions for the Cheltenham Festival. There is only one safe bet to be had, and that is that Keeneland's indefatigable European representative Ed Prosser will be up with the larks to cook the finest Full English for his housemates, and at some stage over the next four days will serenade us with his inimitable version of Rhinestone Cowboy. The Prosser baritone is certainly much easier on the ears than the newly...

   Peter Molony is best known for being the man who bought the reigning Champion Hurdler Honeysuckle (GB) (Sulamani {Ire}) on behalf of his client Kenny Alexander. He also works for Sheikh Fahad's Qatar Racing operation, is an agent for Goffs and has had a multitude of top horses through his hands at Rathmore Stud. That may be why the Limerick native signs off on his Twitter bio with the word 'busy'!    Son of the legendary Martin Molony, widely regarded as the best dual-purpose jockey of all time, Peter...