hurdling legends, luckless kennedy & bandwagons I refuse to jump upon.

​I was never a major supporter of Best Mate. I recognised that he was a top-class racehorse and I admired, though at the same time was frustrated, by the overly-cautious manner in which he was campaigned. Overall, though, the magic was more to do with the love-affair of the two lovable old codgers that trained him and less about the quality of horse he beat in his three Gold-Cups. Of the horses to have won more than one Gold Cup, I would only put Al Boum Photo below him in the list.
My feelings are going in a similar direction with Constitution Hill. I have no doubt he is top-class and he has been trained to perfection by Nicky Henderson. Yet is it appropriate for commentators and journalists to refer to his ‘legacy’ and to place his name alongside horses of the past who ran more often than he has and who won far more races than he is likely to win in his career.
People are hooked to his Supreme win and his single Champion Hurdle success and refuse to access the quality of horse he has subsequently beaten. It is a case of recency bias, with people, even racing journalists, blinkered when it comes to the champions of the golden age of hurdlers back in the late 1970’s though to the middle of the 1980’s.
Istabraq ruled the roost for 4-years and no one could argue that his haul of 3 Champion Hurdle crowns would have been 4 if it were not for the foot and mouth outbreak that denied him his fourth victory. Persian War, Night Nurse, Monksfield and Sea Pigeon (perhaps the greatest dual-purpose horse of my lifetime) achieved far more than Constitution Hill has so far achieved. 
In the next six-weeks we will have a far clearer handle on whether Constitution Hill can lay claims to a ‘legacy’. First, he must dispatch Lossiemouth with the greatest of ease over 2-mile 4-furlongs at Aintree tomorrow and then he must do the same to State Man and Golden Ace at Punchestown. If he fails to live-up to the hype that surrounds him over the next few weeks, it may well be novice chasing for him next season.

For a young man to have achieved so many Grade 1’s victory as Jack Kennedy might suggest he has had all the luck in the world driving him forward. Yet Jack Kennedy has achieved all his Grade 1’s despite the fates doubling down on their ambition to deny him any success. Perhaps even Jack can no longer list the entirety of his injuries, though we know he has broken six legs, which is a fete in itself.
This time around he is being extra cautious and extra sensible and given himself until ‘before Galway’ before coming back after his injury scare caused by State Man’s head coming into contact with his recently, though perhaps not, healed broken leg and his fall from the luckless Corbett’s Cross in the Gold Cup.
Now, nobody should ever say this when Jack is within earshot but whereas we believe that National Hunt jockeys are made of special stuff, perhaps Jack is made from the wrong stuff. Or perhaps it is simply that the gods are jealous of his talent and the success he continues to have despite all their successes with their slings and arrows of outrageous misfortune.

I am not fancying Stumptown, Iroko or I Am Maximus for the Aintree National. The former is an improving horse and he should stay and he will certainly jump but does he have the form in the book to win a competitive and good-quality Aintree National? Although a good jumper of park fences, I have my doubts that Iroko will jump round on Saturday. I also have my doubts about his stamina. Of the three I have mentioned, he is the one who I fear might prove me wrong. I admit that I Am Maximus was a revelation last year and though appreciably wrong 12-months ago, this year the faster ground might contribute to him taking or two by the roots this time around. Personally, I would not be surprised to see Paul Townend’s name against that of Nick Rockett come Saturday.