Constitution Hill's greatest wins ranked - Cheltenham destructions, Grade 1 romps and a roof-raising Flat debut

Ahead of one of the sport's biggest stars returning to the track, here's a look back at some of Constitution Hill's top performances, best wins and most memorable moments.

In a career of Grade 1s, mind-boggling ratings and headline-grabbing performances, the suggestion that an all-weather Flat debut at Southwell requires inclusion in Constitution Hill's greatest victories is always going to be one led by heart rather than head.

However, after two years of disappointment and setbacks, a crowd unseen at the Nottinghamshire track before that now-famous Friday evening back in February roared home one of the sport's most popular stars as he made a spectacular return to winning ways under Oisin Murphy.

It was a performance that, coupled with a disastrous schooling session documented by Lee Mottershead in a recent Racing Post Big Read, all but ended the horse's jumping career as his potential on the Flat became apparent, races such as the Ebor and Melbourne Cup suddenly coming into the conversation.

Grade 1s do not get much easier than Constitution Hill's 17-length romp at Kempton on Boxing Day, 2022. That cavernous gap was not to any longshot either, because the runner-up was Nicky Henderson's Epatante, herself a Champion Hurdle winner two years earlier.

Constitution Hill's first Christmas Hurdle earned him a Racing Post Rating of 175, a figure he only bettered once, three months later at Prestbury Park.

The 2024 Christmas Hurdle, Constitution Hill's third success in Kempton's festive hurdling showpiece, was another that on figures alone does not merit inclusion. However, like the roof-raising Southwell Flat debut, this was all about the scenes in the stands and the excitement of seeing one of the sport's biggest names back on top.

Willie Mullins had brought Lossiemouth to west London to add extra quality to the contest, but Paul Townend and the mare could not challenge Constitution Hill as Nico de Boinville made it a Christmas Hurdle hat-trick.

The performance with which Constitution Hill announced himself to the world, a staggering destruction in the opening race of Cheltenham. The turn of foot off the final bend was immediate, future chasing star Jonbon left an ever-distant green and gold speck as Michael Buckley's colours flattened the Cheltenham hill in an extraordinary display of superiority.

Punters would have to wait more than three years to see Constitution Hill odds-against again, seven successive wins, six in Grade 1s to follow before that fall at Cheltenham last year.

His highest performance on ratings, 12 months after the crushing Supreme Novices' run, Constitution Hill was back to repeat the feat against older rivals.

A 4-11 favourite, the advantage at the line was nine lengths to State Man. Vauban, who three months later would be a Royal Ascot winner, was nearly 16 lengths back. In a different league, the only question in the post-race debrief was to ponder just how many Champion Hurdles Constitution Hill would have to his name. Very few would have guessed this would be his first and last.

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