Memories of Harchibald at Dundalk, as Constitution Hill heads to Southwell

Constitution Hill’s Southwell Flat appearance may be garnering all the headlines – but he is not the first horse to put his Champion Hurdle credentials to the test on the all-weather, something the Noel Meade can attest to with the great Harchibald.

The five-time Grade One winner somehow never got his hands on the Cheltenham Festival’s premier hurdling prize, but tuned up for his tilt at the 2008 edition by winning over a mile and a half at Dundalk in late February of that year, something Nicky Henderson’s ace will try to replicate on Friday evening.

However, while it is jumping woes that have led to the 2023 Champion Hurdler trying his hand on the level, it was the necessity to avoid traditionally deep winter ground that saw Harchibald deviate to the synthetics, running at Dundalk four times in total and in fact bowing out there in late 2009.

“Harchibald had to have his ground and couldn’t handle the winter soft ground at all,” explained Meade.

“Because of that we were happy to run on the all-weather, he didn’t always win on it but he did win once on it before Cheltenham.”

Constitution Hill will face a bumper field in opposition, including a runner from Meade’s compatriot in Ireland Willie Mullins in the form of Daddy Long Legs.

And while Meade would have perhaps taken a different path to the Cheltenham Festival himself with Constitution Hill, he is backing the master of Seven Barrows to conjure up a memorable training feat that has been the hallmark of his long and distinguished career.

Meade added: “I’m not a big believer in running on an artificial surface with jumping horses, but apparently it’s a nice surface at Southwell and it’s great to see them getting a run into him and going again.

“If he was mine I think I would have run him in the Kingwell (Hurdle, at Wincanton) or something like that, but Nicky is a master at what he does and he’ll know where he is with the horse and all I can do is wish him luck.”