'He put the race to bed and with it the Champion Hurdle' - bookies blown away

Bookmakers were as bowled over with the performance of Constitution Hill in the Betfair Fighting Fifth Hurdle at Newcastle as racegoers, pundits and professionals.

They were so impressed with the unbeaten hurdler he was cut to odds-on favouritism by all layers after his rout on Saturday.

Constitution Hill is no bigger than 8-11 favourite to win the Unibet Champion Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival in March, with Honeysuckle, State Man and Vauban all eased in the market as the size of the task facing them in trying to beat the brilliant five-year-old became apparent after his comeback success.

Back-to-back Champion Hurdle winner Honeysuckle was eased to a general 4-1 (from 7-2) to land the Grade 1 for a third time, the biggest price she has been since the mid-summer.

State Man, who shortened to 5-1 (from 9) after winning last week’s Grade 1 Morgiana Hurdle, was shunted out to 7-1 by most firms six days later.

Paul Binfield, spokesman for Paddy Power, said: “That’s one of the most exceptional hurdling performances I’ve ever seen from Constitution Hill. It’s magnificent to see a ‘talking horse’ jump so beautifully and fluently over his hurdles.

“While 8-11 looks short enough for the Champion Hurdle before we even go into December, that might look pretty big after the Christmas Hurdle and when he’s going to post at Prestbury Park in March.”

Constitution Hill went unbeaten through his novice season, topped by a 22-length success in the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle at Cheltenham.

'That was an awesome performance'

The way he was able to produce as impressive a performance against more experienced horses particularly struck Barry Orr, head of racing PR for Betfair.

“For his first time in open company, that was an awesome performance,” Orr said. “He put the race to bed off the home bend and with it the Champion Hurdle. He is now 8-11, from evens, and will continue to shorten as we get closer to Cheltenham.”

After finishing second at Newcastle, bookmakers pushed Epatante out to 40-1 (from 25) for the Champion Hurdle, a race she won in 2020 and in which she was placed in the last two years.

The dismissive manner in which Constitution Hill thrashed Epatante and three others elevated him to a new level, according to Coral spokesman Lewis Knowles.

‘’What Constitution Hill did today at Newcastle was quite simply astonishing, and if he gets to Cheltenham in one piece, then it’s very difficult to see anything beating him,” he said.

“Epatante is a high-quality mare in her own right, and she’ll have her day once again, I’m sure, but this was all about Constitution Hill. He could turn out to be one of the finest hurdlers we’ve ever seen.”

Read more . . .

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