Constitution Hill can shut Kevin Blake up once and for all – plus why the John Durkan was a glorified racecourse gallop

Nicky Henderson is certainly confident in his stable star
IT looks simple to me.

Constitution Hill will pop out and make all at Newcastle on Saturday and the sceptics will be silenced.

That includes a TV colleague of mine in Kevin Blake, who has muted Constitution Hill and me on his X feed.

He’s had enough chat of the great horse.

Big mistake, Kevin. Huge. Welcome us back Saturday.

Less than a year ago Constitution Hill destroyed the top class mare Lossiemouth in the Christmas Hurdle at Kempton.

When you consider what Lossiemouth has done since, it goes down as a monstrous slaying.

Of course Nicky Henderson’s star had issues afterwards, but I’m confident he has his mojo back.

You hear me, Kevin?

Let’s put it like this… I’m sure he will make more of a splash than your hero Al Riffa did in the Melbourne Cup!

Although to be fair he was given an utterly hopeless ride.

It will be a small field for the Betmgm Fighting Fifth, but the Grade 1 promises to be a cracker and to be honest is a much bigger event than the Coral Gold Cup on the same day, for all that the latter will be more of a pull to punters.

The simple truth is the Coral Gold Cup has lost all its former glories as the Hennessy.

It’s a decent staying handicap. Nothing more, nothing less – and Templegate has a 25-1 tip.

Taking on Constitution Hill will probably be Willie Mullins’ young improver Anzadam, Dan Skelton’s Cheltenham winner The New Lion, this year’s Champion Hurdle heroine Golden Ace and the supplemented roughie Nemean Lion.

The latter was pulled out at Ascot over the weekend when the rain was an hour too late in lashing down.

What a race it promises to be.

That all said I don’t think it matters how good the others are if Constitution Hill brings his A game.

I’m sure he will (although these kind of statements always come back to haunt one!).

That’s the fun of having an opinion in this game.

Anyone who doesn’t think the John Durkan Chase is a glorified racecourse gallop is bonkers.

Every year it’s the same old nonsense.

A group of animals mainly running over their wrong trip.

That, though, doesn’t mean Gaelic Warrior didn’t do well to hold off Fact To File over the weekend. He did.

The time of the race was pretty good, and Gaelic Warrior and the runner-up were the two horses in the field who were always going to find the distance of the race right up their street.

Fact To File is iffy for me under pressure, and Gaelic Warrior is tough. That was the difference.

As for the runs of Fastorslow and Gold Cup hero Inothewayurthinkin, well it was a lovely way to give them a day out at the races.

I’ll be stunned, though, if the Gold Cup victor of 2026 wasn’t sat at home, as I fully expect the great Galopin Des Champs to regain his crown next year.

Racing’s leaders may be purring come budget day this week – but it will be a big surprise if the consequences of Rachel Reeves’s actions don’t hit the sport hard.

Most now expect the taxation on horse racing to be left as it is.

But equally, most believe the Government will increase taxation on gaming and bookmakers.

You can paint that up as you like, but racing and punters are the ones who will feel the pain if that is the case.

Gambling will always be an easy win for Governments, as those who don’t understand the industry will believe it’s the type of sector that should be clobbered.

That’s the problem when you have a system where the people in charge don’t have a true knowledge of all the industries they are making huge decisions over.

In basic terms, it’s why so many Governments make mistake after mistake.

They simply don’t get it.