WHAT do you do now with a headscratcher like Constitution Hill? From talk of immortal status in National Hunt racing to now three falls in four starts, it has been a wild chapter to watch unfold.

Did you ever think you’d see the day that the 22-length winner of a Supreme Novices’ Hurdle in course-record-breaking time would be available at 16/1 for a Champion Hurdle? Let alone in a season where State Man is sidelined with injury? Those are the odds you can have about him now. Nicky Henderson’s pride and joy went off at 1/2 in the race last season, and 4/11 in his only previous Champion Hurdle appearance. These are very different times now.

In a column written in this paper after Constitution Hill had missed the 2024 Cheltenham Festival, I concluded by saying that “if there are ambitions for him to be considered as the greatest hurdler of all time, a big season next term is an absolute must.”

The case at the time was that his CV of big-race wins, featuring just the one Champion Hurdle victory, alongside a history of light campaigning/absences made it hard to hand him the crown of the outright standout in two-mile hurdling - compared to the longevity and deep winning records of top operators like Istabraq. The season just gone didn’t do much to help Constitution Hill’s case.

Michael Buckley’s star always lived life on the edge to a certain degree in terms of his jumping, even if he had never fallen until the 2025 Champion Hurdle. Part of his brilliance was how quick he was from A to B, though it was also an area of riskiness. Remember how far away he was from the last when taking off in the 2023 Champion Hurdle?

Confidence questioned

Now, his confidence and decision-making ability when jumping at high speed appears to have deserted him. After seeing how distraught Henderson was after his latest Newcastle tumble, it’s impossible not to have sympathy for connections of a once invincible-looking hurdler. When broken down in its most simple terms, it must be haunting his connections that it has become such a challenge to safely negotiate just eight hurdles in a race. After all, he managed to successfully master the first 84 flights he raced over under rules. He has now fallen at three of his last 25.

Whatever the racing equivalent of ‘hurlers on the ditch’ are, they have been out in force over the last week with all sorts of recommendations for how Henderson can remedy Constitution Hill’s jumping woes. I wonder whether a set of blinkers might help him concentrate over an obstacle, but far be it for me to instruct a 75-time Cheltenham Festival-winning trainer what to do.

If the start to the season is anything to go by, one thing that Constitution Hill surely won’t have to deal with is a big field of rivals the next time he runs in a Grade 1 hurdle. That trend has been becoming more and more prevalent in the last decade, and it shows no signs of stopping on the evidence of our recent top hurdles in Britain and Ireland.

Just four went to post in the Morgiana and five lined up in the Fighting Fifth (three of whom completed). Only six contested the Hatton’s Grace - a race with three finishers.

Look at the entirety of last season’s Grade 1 hurdles over two and a half miles or shorter too. A similar pattern appears. Neither the Morgiana, Fighting Fifth, Hatton’s Grace, Christmas Hurdle, December Hurdle (Leopardstown), Irish Champion, Champion Hurdle, Aintree Hurdle or Punchestown Champion managed to attract enough runners for three places of each-way betting. The average field size was a mere 5.77 runners.

A season earlier, seven of those nine Grade 1s had fields of either four or five runners (eight in the Champion Hurdle and Aintree Hurdle the only exceptions, but no double-digit fields). We might have some standout operators in this division, but there is not a large amount of elite ones by any means.

Champion fields

The Champion Hurdle’s shrinking field at Cheltenham has been noticeable too. From 1994 to 2009, the typical number of runners was 15 in the day-one feature. From 2010 to 2025, that has dropped to 10 runners. The last three renewals have featured fields of seven, eight and seven. A big factor in the two-mile hurdling division having fewer exceptional horses is that many of the best hurdlers in years gone by were sourced from middle-distance flat racing. Nowadays, it feels like many of those same individuals are bought to race abroad instead, given their commercial value.

In a deep dive on the topic a couple of seasons ago, I found that from 1995 to 2013, 63% of those who finished in the first three in the Champion Hurdle started their careers on the flat. Specifically, horses who debuted in flat races in Britain or Ireland filled 39% of the first three places in Champion Hurdles during this period.

How does the picture look now? In the last dozen Champion Hurdles, only three horses off the flat in Britain and one from Ireland reached the frame - 11% of the pool (down from 39%). In the last three Champion Hurdles, less than one in five runners started their careers on the flat in Britain or Ireland (18%). Again, from 1997 to 2013, 13 out of 18 Champion Hurdle winners started life on the flat. None of the last 12 have done so.

When you see the prize money that can be earned from having a crack at those valuable Grade 1 hurdles with small fields (€30,000 earned by the 143-rated Glen Kiln when second in the Morgiana, for example), it’s a wonder that more connections don’t push aggressively to buy quality types off the flat.

A final note on the Morgiana itself. It’s understandable to need a starting point for two-mile hurdlers in the early winter window, but should the race really have Grade 1 status?

You have to go back to 2003 to find the last renewal with enough runners for three places of each-way betting, and the average field size over the last 20 years is only 4.5 runners.

Top horses can turn up, but it offered little excitement this year. Since 2010, the race has also included winners at 1/16, 1/6, 1/5, 4/11, 2/5, 4/9, 8/13, 11/10, 5/4 and 6/4. In a National Hunt calendar where there will be several more Grade 1 opportunities for the same horses, perhaps Grade 2 status - with penalties for Grade 1 winners - would fit the bill better. Grade 1 status should be reserved for championship-type races. If Constitution Hill ever manages to scale those heights again, now that would be a victory for perseverance.