'A brilliant piece of work' - Henderson hails mural of jumps star Constitution Hill on Lambourn pub

A touched Nicky Henderson on Friday hailed the village spirit in Lambourn after seeing for the first time a mural of his latest superstar Constitution Hill on the front of the Wheelwrights Arms.

Successful in the Champion Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival in March, Constitution Hill, owned by the trainer's close pal Michael Buckley, is arguably the most exciting horse in jump racing and his extraordinary talent has been captured on the Lambourn pub commonly known as 'The Wheel'.

The brainchild of landlord Dave Geddes and Kath Connors, who runs the canteen at Henderson's Seven Barrows yard, the artwork was produced by the Swindon-based Ed Russell, who last year marked Lester Piggott's death by painting his face on the back of the pub.

"It's very clever," Henderson said. "Normally, I'm very superstitious about horses in training being painted and I'd never let someone do a commission of one. People say, 'Let's get so and so painted', and I'm like, 'You wait until he's retired!'

"To be fair, lots of people send things in saying their children have painted one of the horses, but none are as good as this and it's marvellous the village has a horse such as Constitution to get behind.

"I'm very honoured and it's a great spot on the front of the pub to show him off; he's in that mould of a horse the public and racing fans warm to. I'm very proud of that and it's a brilliant piece of work."

Artist Ed Russell (left) with Wheel landlord Dave Geddes (right) and Constitution Hill's trainer Nicky Henderson

Russell was also present on Friday to see Henderson's reaction and said: "You can't ask for more than to get the seal of approval from Nicky Henderson. I'm not from around here, but to see the culture of horseracing and understand it has been great. I love how much it's been appreciated and it's one of the best things I've done.

"I spent a lot of time on it and sometimes murals can be hit and miss so for people to like it is fantastic."

The Wheel used to be run by Gerry McCann, the work rider of Derby winners Troy, Henbit, Nashwan and Sir Percy, but Geddes has been at the helm since December 2021.

He said: "Ed has done a fantastic job – you won't see a better mural anywhere. Constitution Hill is phenomenal and was expected to win the Champion Hurdle but the whole pub went ballistic when he did and it's a fitting tribute to such an amazing horse."

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