​The decision by France Galop to continue refusing to allow geldings to run in the Arc is ante-racing and a gift to the breeding industry.
Surely, the whole premise of horse racing as a sport is to discover the best horse at all the varying distances and divisions. Why ban geldings and yet allow fillies and mares to take on and possibly diminish the stud prospects of the best colts? And that is the nub of this ban; protecting the interests of the top studs. If Goliath (pronounced goalie-ath) were to beat the winners of the English and French Derbies, for instance, Goliath’s value would remain zero to the breeding industry but also the value of the three-year-old colts that finish behind him would also drop. Worse still for top breeders, what if a gelding were to win the Arc multiple times, year after year, stallion-owners would all take a financial hit. That is what the ban is in place for. The status quo. 
That to have a champion kept in training on the flat kept in training year after year would be popular with spectators and racing enthusiasts is not even a consideration. It is self-interest before the interest of all.

British trainers go home with 8-winners from Punchestown last week, including a Grade 1 courtesy of Lubamba and numerous placed horses. And the winners were spread around different trainers, which is also something to shout about. It was also good to have both Nicky Henderson coming home with a couple of winners and his stand-in jockey James Bowen. The emergence of green shoots, albeit in a foreign field, should not be dismissed as too little too late as all the wealthiest owners have their horses based in Ireland, so for British trainers to go there and record 8-winners demonstrates that horses can be trained equally successfully on our side of the Irish Sea.
The other point of interest to come from Punchestown was that Willie Mullins was winning handicaps as well as Grade 1’s, which might be a sign of things to come.

The main feature in today’s Racing Post is a reflection on the ‘Stable Servants’ (yes, that was the term for grooms fifty-years ago) Strike that saw unprecedented scenes on the Rowley Mile, with demonstrations, Willie Carson pulled from his horse and whipped (his own whip, apparently), the 2,000 Guineas started by flag and a J.C.B. used to gouge large holes in the precious turf.
The past is a different country, as someone once said. In 1974 the Trade Union Congress began a campaign for the minimum wage to rise to £30 a week. Stable Servants, because that is what they were back then, were supposed to be paid £28 a week, though it was widely known that some trainers refused to pay even that amount.
Trainers refused to even negotiate, not wanting to pay for the increase as it would entail asking their owners to pay them more for training their horses. Even the affable Henry Cecil was indignant about the strike, eventually sacking the lad that should have led-up his 2,000 Guineas winner of that year, Bolkonski.
I remember at the time thinking it a bad look for the sport, stable staff preventing racing from going ahead, walking away from the horses they were supposed to love and cherish. Yet from the perspective of now, I realise their cause was just and eventually, and this is again a bad look for the sport, only eventually, stable staff are now better-valued and seen as a team and not simply a work-force. I doubt if we are where we are now because of the infamous strike but it demonstrated to the world outside of our sport, that ‘the them and us’ stance taken by trainers was unenlightened and flawed. The industry lost a good many top-class staff due to the strike, with trainers reneging on the agreement to take back those lads who chose to enforce their civil right to a fair wage. The strike was a dirty business, yet it began a cleansing process. But it is a reminder of what can happen when the sport’s rank and file is taken for granted. Stable staff are the equal of both owners and trainers. Though the horse is king and that too should be remembered by all.

​Remember Sprinter Sacre. We must all, today of all days, remember Sprinter Sacre and his rise from the ashes of imminent retirement to providing us with, especially me, one of the greatest comebacks in racing history. Nicky Henderson worked the oracle in 2016 and we must all hope he can resurrect Constitution Hill in a similar manner in 2025/26.
Yesterday evening, Constitution Hill jumped the first flight of hurdles as if he has been running over fences all his life. Of course, he has not seen birch hurdles for a very long time and that first hurdle must have come as a surprise to him and that was doubtless the reason for his extravagance. It is possible he is fed-up with hearing his critics criticise his jumping technique and that first leap was his way of saying ‘suck on this, suckers.’ I doubt it, though. He is by all accounts too nice ‘a person’ for either rude gestures or to frighten his connections unnecessarily. 
I had expected James Bowen to allow Constitution Hill to bowl along, yet he seemed prepared to have Paul Townend boss the race in the way he bosses all the races in Ireland when minded to take command of the pace. For most of the race I was content with how Constitution Hill was jumping. He was perfectly placed to move-up to challenge State Man, yet it all fizzled out after a minor error at the third last (?) and it was a sad sight to see him finish fifth of six, though once victory was gone James Bowen dropped his hands and allowed his mount to saunter home in his own time.
I admit, I was shocked by the result. Even more shocked by the hapless performance by the former champion hurdler. And we must remind ourselves he is a former champion, and only once a champion. He dominated the hurdle scene for one season, with State Man now the present-day king of the hurdling division.
Strangely, after the shock of the race, my thoughts turned not to Henderson, Buckley, Bowen or de Boinville but to Matt Chapman. Matt has tied his colours to the white mast of the ‘unbeatable Constitution Hill’, ‘the greatest of all-time’, and now must take the flack for being so wrong and on so many occasions. Whether Paddy Brennan will receive an apology, I doubt. Though even I feel pity for Matt.
I somehow doubt anything will be found amiss with Constitution Hill and I hope they abandon the idea of going for the Ascot Gold Cup. The Queen Alexandra, possibly, though I would prefer the horse to have the summer off, though with an hour or so on a horse walker to prevent him arriving back at Seven Barrows in early autumn too chubby, as is, I believe, normally the case.
I remain steadfast in my belief that Constitution Hill should be schooled over fences in preparation for an early season novice chase campaign. Two runs over fences would demonstrate if he has a future as a chaser and jumping obstacles that require his full attention might rejuvenate his enthusiasm. Also, they could still run him in the Christmas Hurdle to gain an understanding of his position as a Champion Hurdle prospect.
What must be remembered is that Constitution Hill was bought as a Cheltenham Gold Cup possible and everything he has won thus far can be considered a bonus. It is quite natural for a horse to lose his speed as he gets older and acquire stamina in its place. I would not suggest that he has the stamina for a Cheltenham Gold Cup but he would surely fit the profile of a King George or Ryanair winner.
Yesterday was too bad to be true. Though it might be a true representation of where they are now with Constitution Hill as a Champion Hurdle contender. Yet Sprinter Sacre fell further down to earth than is so far the situation with Constitution Hill and yet in 2016 he rose from the ashes to win a competitive Champion Chase, his reputation enhanced. If Nicky could achieve magic on that day, he can do the same this time around. I just hope Nicky tears up his personal rule book and takes the brave root to repatriating Constitution Hill to superstardom.

​If someone had predicted at the start of the season that neither Nicky Henderson nor Willie Mullins would win the Champion Hurdle, we would have all scoffed at the lunacy of anyone who might believe in prophesy. Well, it is good no one did make such a prediction as it is helped my 50-50 belief in the occult remain in the sea-saw position of Schrodinger’s cat. 
Yet here we are at the final meeting of the Irish season with Constitution Hill and State Man looking for redemption for their antics at Cheltenham, Constitution Hill doubly so given he played the same falling-over trick at Aintree, and with the current Champion Hurdler, Golden Ace, with nothing to prove, given the fortune the racing gods rained down on her back in March.
Obviously, I would love Golden Ace to prevail again, though this time with the big two staying on the hooves. But how likely is it that Jeremy Scott will be wearing that bemused smile this time around? So, who will win this showdown at the finest racecourse in the world. Yes, I have decided Punchestown should win any future poll for the greatest racecourse in the world. Not the prettiest, not while that quarry blights the bucolic nature of the place, nor the easiest viewing for spectators. Just simply the best.
As the Bowen boys can do no wrong at the moment, it would be easy to go for Constitution Hill, so I will. He is the best around when it comes to hurdles, even if he has now proven beyond doubt that he is not the best jumper of hurdles, and he is certainly not the best of all-time when it comes to champion hurdlers. But he is the best around. 
But this is State Man’s home turf. He is reliable, does all that is needed and not a jot more and it will only take one fluff from Constitution Hill to give him the advantage. Yes, he too fluffed his lines at Cheltenham but greater horses than him have taken a purler at the last hurdle. Think Annie Power. Fingers crossed, though, it has to be Constitution Hill, hasn’t it? That is the bump in the road with this race, the two main contenders have questions to answer, with no current form to provide any clues to the outcome.
Then there is Kargese. Can she be ruled out entirely? She is trained by the equine magician who has spent this week defeating himself with third and fourth strings.
The other two main events this week have proved easy for me to decipher. I could not see how either Marine Nationale and Galopin Des Champs could be beat. This time I can visualise Constitution Hill both winning on the bridle and falling at the last when upside State Man. I can visualise State Man kicking for home off the final bend and Constitution Hill failing to get past him. I can visualise both Golden Ace and Kargese pulling off a big shock win with the big two trailing in their wake.
I hope, above all else, that all six-runners finish the race.

If Constitution Hill does win, which I hope he does, it will cap a great week for British-trained runners at Punchestown. Harry Derham and the small stable of Michael Smith started the ball rolling on the first day, with the winners continuing yesterday. British-trained horses, and this is usually recorded when talking about Irish-trained horses at Cheltenham in March not British-trained horses at Punchestown in April/May, had four of the first five finishers in the 3-mile handicap hurdle, with the Henderson trained Jeriko Du Reponet reversing Cheltenham form with his stable-mate Doddiethegreat, with the James Own trained One Big Bang third and the Harry Fry trained Beat the Bat fifth. Previous to that race, Petit Tonnerre won the 2-mile handicap chase for the O’Neills and the underappreciated Richie McLernon. And to top off a good day for the Brits the Alan King trained Baron Noir won the I.N.H. flat race from the David Maxwell ridden El Cairos, trained for him by the Moores, Gary and Josh and the Hobbs/White trained Kilwaughter third. Long may this period of handicap-type giant-killing continue.