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2026 Champion Hurdle

Nothing will replicate the trepidation in the real race though
Obviously,imagine schooling to be like sparring in boxing, try to get something as close as a fight to sharpen your senses & reactions for the main event, then some fcuker hooks you in the liver and you know its a different game today.
 
Obviously,imagine schooling to be like sparring in boxing, try to get something as close as a fight to sharpen your senses & reactions for the main event, then some fcuker hooks you in the liver and you know its a different game today.
Yeah
I’m sure nico not scared of getting hurt
Just failure
I’d also be pretty sure the horse will sense nico’s tension too
It’s why they should have changed jockeys like we all discussed back in November
They’ve changed nothing other than using yogi it seems
Not sure that’s enough but we might well find out
 
Best way to get something out of this session, is to have him do it with 3 or more others, let him do a few alone at first, then send him with the others, couple behind or a couple in front, one alongside, get him to focus on the hurdles with horses around him as doing it alone is a different ballgame to what he'll face in the CH, knowing his issues if he lined up, and I was riding against him, I'd be doing all I could to unsettle him cause that'd be my job, take every advantage you can & try to win hence wanting him jumping amongst horses before the day.
I hear you. My daughter played academy football for Brighton for years. Parents were encouraged to watch training sessions at their state of the art facilities in Lancing. They had their own physios, two dedicated coaches , 3 two hour training sessions a week, a separate strength and conditioning coach, they even had their own nutritionist. Despite all of this come game day without exception the opposition ( the likes of Chelsea , Arsenal , City , United) would do multiple things that had them looking like rabbits in a headlight and I’d be quietly confident all of them girls had a higher IQ than a horse.

Whatever they do we all know it won’t be enough to guarantee a positive outcome. We can rationalise all of this until we are blue in the face. They can risk mitigate and damage limit all they like but once that flag is raised the main feeling the owner, the jockey the trainer and even yogi fucking bear will have is hope. An incredibly smart person told me hope is not a strategy. This whole thing makes me sick to my back teeth.

They don’t love this horse they love how this horse makes them feel when he doesn’t fuck up. It’s a big fucking difference. I wish they just had the guts to admit it.
 
Maybe the racing gods will send him a dirty scope a couple of days before the race
 
Whether Constitution Hill heads to the Cotswolds on March 10 or not, it appears increasingly likely he will target some major Flat prizes later in the year, with a trip to Australia in November uppermost in Buckley’s mind.

He said: “I did say to Nicky ‘can we agree on one thing, whatever we decide about Cheltenham, let’s for the rest of this year concentrate on a Flat campaign’.

“For me, if he doesn’t run (in the Champion Hurdle), I don’t see him running over hurdles again this year – that’s 2026.

“But if he ran and let’s say he fell – and God forbid he does that – he would never run over hurdles again ever. If he ran and won it would be a hell of a swansong (over obstacles) and it would put a few demons to bed for me, I’ve got to say.

“I think the horse should be running around about the end of August or beginning of September, either in the Ebor (at York), or there’s a race at Goodwood, or in the Irish St Leger, with a view to going to Melbourne.

“If you were asking me what I’d like to do, that is what I’d like to aim at.”
 
I am sure many will disagree with my thoughts on constitution hill but here they are.

It's a disgrace that they are even considering him to run over hurdles again, he is clearly mentally scarred from previous falls (falling on your neck at 35mph must be traumatic) and is now second guessing himself whilst jumping at race pace. Let's put it like this, if he was a stallion and therefore more valuable to them then they would have retired him immediately.
 
I am sure many will disagree with my thoughts on constitution hill but here they are.

It's a disgrace that they are even considering him to run over hurdles again, he is clearly mentally scarred from previous falls (falling on your neck at 35mph must be traumatic) and is now second guessing himself whilst jumping at race pace. Let's put it like this, if he was a stallion and therefore more valuable to them then they would have retired him immediately.
He was bought to race. No one want to see a horse fall and be killed but he was bought to race. It’s a sport just like boxing or football. Things happen in sport!
 
I am sure many will disagree with my thoughts on constitution hill but here they are.

It's a disgrace that they are even considering him to run over hurdles again, he is clearly mentally scarred from previous falls (falling on your neck at 35mph must be traumatic) and is now second guessing himself whilst jumping at race pace. Let's put it like this, if he was a stallion and therefore more valuable to them then they would have retired him immediately.
I was brought up with Desert Orchid, he was about as public an asset as any racehorse I've ever known, he raced 6/7/8 times a year no-one ever called out David Elsworth or Richard Burridge for over racing or risking his welfare in any way, the problem now I believe is the number of outlets and platforms that exist for everyone to air their views, and on many of these platforms there's usually overreaction and lack of balance, it's the modern world and what's been created that permits so many people to share their views to a global audience, that and I think the world has bred a generation of attention seekers whose comments are often designed to alarm/gain a reaction.
It's not changing, will probably only get worse, we just have to accept the noise or ignore it...
 
He was bought to race. No one want to see a horse fall and be killed but he was bought to race. It’s a sport just like boxing or football. Things happen in sport!
Yep, he can race on the flat, much less chance of getting killed, as he’s been lucky imo to have escaped that
 
He was bought to race. No one want to see a horse fall and be killed but he was bought to race. It’s a sport just like boxing or football. Things happen in sport!
Just to add onto that, they’re bred to be racehorses, for sport, if not then the majority of horses wouldn’t exist.
Well maybe as a food source
And for personal
I actually think CH should run in the churdle, sure they could keep him on the flat but he could stumble/ trip etc etc and potentially die anyway. Then People will be saying he shouldn’t have run anywhere and been retired. horse racing is a sport that will have casualties and we have to accept it. If not racing will cease to exist at all and the horses too. IMO of course
 
Just to add onto that, they’re bred to be racehorses, for sport, if not then the majority of horses wouldn’t exist.
Well maybe as a food source
And for personal
I actually think CH should run in the churdle, sure they could keep him on the flat but he could stumble/ trip etc etc and potentially die anyway. Then People will be saying he shouldn’t have run anywhere and been retired. horse racing is a sport that will have casualties and we have to accept it. If not racing will cease to exist at all and the horses too. IMO of course
So what if a horse is telling you that he struggles with his jumping and then shows you he enjoys racing without having to jump?
And you have options on the flat?
 
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So what if a horse is telling you that he struggles with his jumping and then shows you he enjoys racing without having to jump?
And you have options on the flat?
He was bred to be a NH horse or he’d have been running on the flat for 6/7 years already. Flat horses still have accidents and die. Believe me I get all the points. If con hill doesn’t run over hurdles again and starts a flat career at age 9 don’t you think that could set precedents for the next star to switch code if they fall? . You wouldn’t have seen big bucks over hurdles after his falls ? . Again imo it would signal the start of the death of the racing industry if we can’t accept that there will be fatalities.
 
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I am sure many will disagree with my thoughts on constitution hill but here they are.

It's a disgrace that they are even considering him to run over hurdles again, he is clearly mentally scarred from previous falls (falling on your neck at 35mph must be traumatic) and is now second guessing himself whilst jumping at race pace. Let's put it like this, if he was a stallion and therefore more valuable to them then they would have retired him immediately.
He was bought to race. No one want to see a horse fall and be killed but he was bought to race. It’s a sport just like boxing or football. Things happen in sport!
Yep, he can race on the flat, much less chance of getting killed, as he’s been lucky imo to have escaped that
My point was hes been breed to race. The owner paid money to race . its down to the owner to pull stumps.With the way the CH has fell apart this year i would be telling my trainer thats where we are going.
 
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I am sure many will disagree with my thoughts on constitution hill but here they are.

It's a disgrace that they are even considering him to run over hurdles again, he is clearly mentally scarred from previous falls (falling on your neck at 35mph must be traumatic) and is now second guessing himself whilst jumping at race pace. Let's put it like this, if he was a stallion and therefore more valuable to them then they would have retired him immediately.
He was bought to race. No one want to see a horse fall and be killed but he was bought to race. It’s a sport just like boxing or football. Things happen in sport!
Yep, he can race on the flat, much less chance of getting killed, as he’s been lucky imo to have escaped that
My point was hes been breed to race. The owner paid money to race . its down to the owner to pull stumps.With the way the CH has fell apart this year i would be telling my trainer thats where we are going. My last point will be Aldaniti. Just let tham race,
 
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So what if a horse is telling you that he struggles with his jumping and then shows you he enjoys racing without having to jump?
And you have options on the flat?
He was bred to be a NH horse or he’d have been running on the flat for 6/7 years already. Flat horses still have accidents and die. Believe me I get all the points. If con hill doesn’t run over hurdles again and starts a flat career at age 9 don’t you think that could set precedents for the next star to switch code if they fall? . You wouldn’t have seen big bucks over hurdles after his falls ? . Again imo it would signal the start of the death of the racing industry if we can’t accept that there will be fatalities.
Don't waste your time arguing with him, he lacks brain cells 👍
whose arguing ? My point is just as valid as anyone else’s . And don’t attack someone’s opinion on an open forum . Kinda makes you look a little silly
 
He was talking about arguing with CH Carnage!
 
Warning.... Not a con hill statement to be seen here. :ROFLMAO:..
So thanks again for the awesome PN stable tour today . However you can't ignore those master minded like improvement comments for tutti. That's mad and significant. Really is.
However I won't be having a tutti bet. Looking at the 2nd last Newbury run... Then the horses he beat in the bfair. I can't see it personally. If it was heavy then OK... But if it was soft, heavy in places I can't see it either.
 
He was talking about arguing with CH Carnage!