Brighterdaysahead clash will show Constitution Hill at his best, says Buckley

Owner Michael Buckley has welcomed the presence of Brighterdaysahead and is confident Constitution Hill will silence the doubters when he bids to regain his crown in the Unibet Champion Hurdle at Cheltenham on Tuesday.

So brilliant in the Festival’s opening day feature in 2023, he looked set to dominate the division for years to come but was unable to defend his title 12 months ago after a bitterly disappointing public gallop at Kempton, which was put down to a lung infection, and a subsequent bout of colic, ended his season.

Plenty wondered whether Nicky Henderson’s charge would ever return, but he was back with a bang when landing his second Christmas Hurdle at Kempton, and bar a heart-stopping error at the final flight, his most recent triumph in the Unibet Hurdle on Cheltenham Trials day was as straightforward as it gets.

Despite the fact Constitution Hill is now unbeaten in 10 starts, some have questioned whether he can still be at the peak of his powers. Buckley, though, has come out fighting.

“I’m nervous like I always am, (but) I’m looking forward to it in many ways,” he told Sky Sports Racing on Friday.

“I think the horse, so long as he’s in the shape on Tuesday that he is now, he’s got a great chance, but inevitably I’m nervous, particularly after what happened last year.

“This year I think the horse is in great form, Nicky’s delighted with him and, more importantly, I went down a couple of days ago to see him do his last school and the horse thinks he’s in great shape, which is a good thing.”

The eight-year-old received a hero’s welcome following his recent visit to the Cheltenham winner’s enclosure in late January, and Buckley is expecting him to bring the house down if he can repeat the feat early next week.

He added: “With all the cheering around the winner’s enclosure, Nicky turned to me and said ‘I haven’t heard anything like this since Sprinter Sacre made his comeback’. He has got a hell of a following.

“It’s really touching how much people love him and I suppose that will be accentuated a bit on Tuesday, if things go well, because he had last year off.

“Brits love a comeback kid, not that he’s structurally had anything wrong, he just had a really savage lung infection, but it was a pretty horrible experience watching that gallop (at Kempton) last year, although thank God we did it because if we hadn’t he might have gone in that state to Cheltenham and run in the Champion Hurdle and been ruined forever.”

Constitution Hill is set to face a potent new rival in the form of Brighterdaysahead, who left last year’s Champion Hurdle hero State Man trailing in her wake on her most recent appearance at Leopardstown over Christmas.

But rather than being concerned, Buckley feels the presence of Gordon Elliott’s exciting mare, and her apparent pacesetting stablemate King Of Kingsfield, will actually benefit his pride and joy.

“We’ll wait and see. I could be wrong in my views, but I don’t think there is a jumps horse around that will get him out of his comfort zone, in terms of being at his cruising speed,” Buckley continued.

“I looked at the field earlier in the week and I wasn’t sure where the pace was going to come from if she (Brighterdaysahead) didn’t run with her pacemaker, so I’m delighted about that.

“I think if Brighterdaysahead runs as she has done lately she’ll give us a good lead and the other thing is for me, if we are lucky enough to win, I wouldn’t want to have to read how it would all have been different if Brighterdaysahead had been in the field.

“We have what appears to be the best hurdler in Ireland right now, on the form with State Man and so forth, so it’s going to be the best field that anybody could put together and maybe people will start to appreciate Constitution Hill a bit more if he manages to win.”

While Buckley has been lucky enough to own several top-class horses, including a Queen Mother Champion Chase winner in Finian’s Rainbow, there is no doubt Constitution Hill is his horse of a lifetime and one he is passionate to defend.

He said: “I’ve been a bit vociferous, I suppose, after constantly reading about how he’s in decline and can’t be within 10lb of what he was. Nobody has got any evidence to support that view, it’s just chit-chat and a view and they might be right, but they could also be wrong as he might be better than he was – nobody knows.

“I actually think he might be better than he was. I think he’s more mature and is taking his races better – that I can absolutely guarantee.

“He was always an enthusiastic goer in his races, but there is something about the way he gallops now that is just a little bit different, so we’ll see.

“Maybe I’m going to be wrong, but I might be right!”