Champion Hurdle favourite Constitution Hill’s biggest strength detailed by Ruby Walsh

He looks invincible so far!

*All prices are bang up to date with our snazzy widgets, while odds in copy are accurate at time of publishing but subject to change

How do you beat Constitution Hill in the Champion Hurdle? That’s one of the big questions facing jockeys ahead of the 2023 Cheltenham Festival.

The runaway winner of last season’s Supreme Novices’ Hurdle is the red-hot favourite in Paddy Power’s Champion Hurdle betting after making light work of Epatante in the Fighting Fifth and Christmas Hurdle earlier this term.

He is, quite frankly, a bit of a freak and our resident expert Ruby Walsh believes there is little the other riders can do because jockey Nico de Boinville’s riding style on Constitution Hill is their ‘biggest strength’ in avoiding defeat.

Speaking on the latest episode of our Cheltenham Countdown podcast, Ruby – the most successful jockey in Cheltenham Festival history – explained why the pairing works so well… You can listen to the show in full BELOW!

Ruby Walsh:

“People ask me how does a rival rider get Nico de Boinville and Constitution Hill beaten? I don’t think there is a huge amount that you can do really – it’s not that there’s mind games, but a lot will depend on how the Champion Hurdle is run. The biggest strength that Constitution Hill probably has in terms of not getting beaten, is Nico de Boinville.

“He is incredibly good at keeping things unbelievably simple. He doesn’t ever overcomplicate a ride – we watched him on Shishkin last Saturday and asked would he stay the extra trip in the Ascot Chase.

“Nico de Boinville rode him like there was absolutely no doubt and this was all dead normal. That’s what he does time and time again.

“He will sit just behind the pace so it doesn’t matter how fast they’re going. If they go slow he’ll sit on the pace, gets upsides three furlongs out at the second or the third last and send Constitution Hill on to win his race off the bend into the straight.

“Nico just keeps things unbelievably simple.

“Paul Townend will be looking at it and thinking, ‘well, what will I do?’

“If he jumps out and goes to the front, Nico’s going to sit on your tail, if you stand below the start and don’t go, Nico will be just gone.

Constitution Hill

“Nico de Boinville doesn’t ride that way, Nico will get upsides you down to the second last and be gone off the bend because in his eyes, my horse is either good enough or isn’t.

“If Paul goes too slow in front, Nico will join him at the top of the hill and sail for home then. He’s riding the best horse and that’s the way he rides them.”

Champion Hurdle Tips

As we draw closer to the Champion Hurdle, Paddy’s trusty traders have priced up nine Constitution Hill Specials.

The lads and lasses in the trading room have priced ‘Constitution Hill To Win The 2023 Champion Hurdle By 3 Lengths Or More‘ as an odds-on fancy as well as ‘Constitution Hill & State Man To Finish 1-2 In That Exact Order In The 2023 Champion Hurdle‘.

If you fancy ‘Constitution Hill To Win The 2023 & 2024 Champion Hurdle‘ then there’s a price for that too!

Could the wonder horse pull out a repeat performance of last year’s demolition job in the Supreme? Our traders have priced up ‘Constitution Hill To Win The 2023 Champion Hurdle By 20 Lengths Or More‘ at 22/1.

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