Constitution Hill beaten but not out with Kempton disappointment

Constitution Hill had to settle for an ultimately well-beaten fourth to Pride Of Arras on his eagerly-awaited third Flat outing in the William Hill September Stakes at Kempton Park, after which Nicky Henderson described him as “100 per cent OK” despite the post-race stewards’ report stating he had bled from the nose.

So brilliant at his peak in his hurdling days, the Seven Barrows superstar has remained one of racing’s biggest draws since switching to the level – but this Group Three affair was a major step up from his victories at Southwell and at this track in February and March respectively.

As the odds-on Gethin took early command of the mile-and-a-half contest, Billy Loughnane and Constitution Hill (9-2) sat in a close-up fourth and were still travelling with a degree of menace turning for home.

Asked for his effort just outside the two-furlong pole, there was only a flattering moment of hope before it became clear he was not going to get involved and instead it was the Ralph Beckett-trained Pride Of Arras (11-2) who swept to the front, holding off the rallying Gethin by a length.

Keen to reassure everyone of Constitution Hill’s wellbeing, Henderson told the Press Association: “Evidently after he had been for his routine post-race examination a trickle of blood was noted in one nostril, but at the same time I had already asked for him to be scoped as one of our own veterinary practitioners was there and that is a routine thing from our point of view.

“The vet reported to me before I even knew about this trickle that he was perfectly happy and it was a normal post-race scope.

“There was no significant blood and it could not possibly make any difference to his performance – this horse has categorically not bled, he has not broken a blood vessel. In my own vet’s opinion this is a perfectly normal endoscopic examination and is of no consequence.

“You will see traces of blood and you are only talking about drips and if a horse breaks a blood vessel it is significant, but in this case it is of no significance whatsoever.

“He had a healthy blow and it was quite a hot day and had a good puff, but I can reassure people he is 100 per cent OK.”

Constitution Hill had arrived at Kempton with the Melbourne Cup a tantalising option for the autumn, but Henderson will now return to the drawing board, saying: “Melbourne is gone now sadly. Today was always going to tell us what we were going to do next and I suppose he’s posing us another question now.

“I don’t think we want to go under a mile and a half, that is for sure, and 12, 13 or 14 furlongs seems to be the range of where we go with him. I do think he is going to come on for the run, what with the way he got there as if it was going to happen, but from a furlong out I think he took a bit of a blow. It will sharpen him up.

“He’s going to be eligible to run in handicaps now and it will be interesting to see what the reaction on Tuesday is. It could allow him into some very lucrative handicaps in England, Ireland or wherever you like.

“From two novice stakes of very differing strength and depth it was a big step today and we’ll now just wait to see what it does for his mark.”

He added: “We’ll find a nice race for him somewhere and he’s by no means finished yet, I can promise you that.”

Australian dreams may have been crushed for Constitution Hill, but for connections of the winner Pride Of Arras, a trip to Canada is now on the cards as last year’s Dante and Great Voltigeur scorer showed his class on the Sunbury synthetics.

Beckett said: “He’s a good horse and was good in the Dante and Voltigeur last year and a talented individual.

“He had a really bad foot problem that came to light just before the John Porter and he wasn’t really ready when he ran against Calandagan in the Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud, but I had to run him somewhere.

“I then thought he lugged out when second (to Item) in the York Stakes and was still thinking about his foot.

“I thought he looked a million dollars before the International and hadn’t looked better. It was a great disappointment to all of us we couldn’t run at York. They loaded him at York before all the other horses had gone behind and I’d say he was looking at the horses walking towards him and that’s what set him off

“I thought today he would probably find the surface a touch deeper than he would like so you could probably upgrade it a little bit.

“I think there is a good chance he will really enjoy Toronto when we take him to the Canadian International.”

On the impact of Constitution Hill at Kempton, Beckett added: “It’s great that the crowds have come out and we’re in the entertainment business, but inevitably you have to worry about your own horse.

“I’m delighted there is a crowd and it was a good race. The first two are good horses and Constitution Hill wasn’t disgraced.”