IRISH senior National Hunt handicapper Andrew ‘Sandy’ Shaw believes Constitution Hill could soon eclipse the outstanding ratings set by Istabraq and Faugheen, after the British Horseracing Authority handed him a mark just 1lb behind those legendary hurdlers for his Champion Hurdle rout.

A rating of 175 leaves the unbeaten hurdler snapping at the heels of his fellow Champion Hurdle-winning greats, and Shaw expects there will be more to come from the six-year-old, who has made just six hurdles starts.

“I personally think it’s more than fair to have him in that bracket [of Istabraq and Faugheen],” Shaw told The Irish Field.

“Like most people, I thought State Man would be the first horse to really give him a race but Constitution Hill just blew him away. It takes a little away from the performance that Zanahiyr finished third, but, at the same time, the gap between State Man and Vauban is similar to when they previously met at Leopardstown and Zanahiyr had big performances in him at one point. Maybe he’s now back on song.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen a horse win a Champion Hurdle so easily. He can only get better too. Last season I wondered if he may have been slightly over-hyped but he’s done it on the big day. He’s really exciting and can only improve.”

Post-Cheltenham figures released by the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board revealed a 5lb drop in the weights to 155 for Honeysuckle despite her win in the Close Brothers Mares’ Hurdle over Love Envoi, who entered the Festival rated 147.

Shaw explained: “It’s not a reflection on Honeysuckle that she’s down 5lb but more so that age is probably catching up with her. She didn’t really have to improve to win last week.

“She divided State Man and Vauban in the Irish Champion Hurdle. With a 7lb allowance, 155 leaves her in the right type of territory with State Man on that Leopardstown run.”

Handicap hurdles have traditionally been much more lucrative than handicap chases for Irish-trained runners at the Festival, but that was not the case last week.

A neck defeat for Fastorslow in the Ultima Handicap Chase denied Ireland a clean sweep of the meeting’s four handicap chases, with the visitors also supplying seven of the first 10 home in the Grand Annual, five of the first nine in the Plate and the first seven home in the Kim Muir.

Good Time Jonny’s Pertemps Final success was the only senior handicap hurdle won by the raiding party, but there was joy for the Irish juvenile handicap hurdlers in the Boodles-backed Fred Winter, filling the 1-2-3-4-6-7.

“This year was probably a bit of a surprise to us all in the handicap chases and it’s hard to equate,” said Shaw.

“Our horses ran well in the handicap hurdles too but if someone told you we’d win five of the nine handicaps, you’d assume that four of them might be handicap hurdles. The new rule where novice hurdlers need four starts over hurdles before running in those handicap hurdles has probably made a difference, but it has also evened things up.

“I was delighted with how the Irish horses performed in the Boodles. The first three home ran off the same differential [of 4lb] between their British and Irish marks, so it was technically still a handicap that we had put together when it came to those horses. It was great to see a good spread of winners among the trainers.”