IT IS CONSTITUTION HILL TIME AGAIN, MASTER OF HIS CRAFT, SILLY TO IGNORE & GOOD, THE NEW FIRM.

Sometimes I stumble across evidence to suggest that I might actually know what I am talking about, odd as that may seem to anyone who does me the honour of reading me more than once. When the talk about Constitution Hill was all about the group races he could run in, I was of the opinion that the ambition, until proven inadequate, should be to target the heritage handicaps, with the Ebor as the ultimate target. It seems my thoughts on the matter have somehow travelled east towards Seven Barrows, with Constitution Hill's next appearance on the flat slated for another novice race at Kempton next week. Though the John Porter at Newbury remains on the radar, it seems Nicky Henderson is taking the more cautious approach of seeking a handicap mark for the former hurdler, which will make it easier for him to find suitable future targets, especially in the great horse is to have holiday this summer. With less publicity this time around, it will be interesting to see whether Constitution Hill packs out the grandstands in the same way as he did at Southwell.

There is no denying that Willie Mullins is a grand master when it comes to winning the races that truly matter. He is, without having solved world hunger or arbirated peace on a war front, a man who should be celebrated for his achievements in our sport. He is, perhaps, a true genius, as many informed people within our sport describe him. Yet, as a trainer of 200-horses per season, who regularly runs more than one horse in any race, with five, six or seven, not unknown, Willie Mullins must have more losers than any other trainer, with a high percentage of the 200 either failing to win a race or not reaching the racecourse at all. Also, and this is in response to Joe Chambers, Rich Ricci's racing manager, in today's Racing Post, describing Mullins' training of Gaelic Warrior as a novice chaser as the making of the horse, it is easier for the trainer who has several dozen Grade 1 horses to be patient with a young horse, than it is for the man or woman who has only one horse of great potential to resist the temptation of 'going for gold'.

It is true that horses rarely improve when they leave Closutton for other stables, though I contend that at other stables there is not the same equine or even human talent than is possessed at Closutton. The reason a top athlete will change from a long-term coach who can give one-to-one training for someone, usually in the U.S., who trains a whole host of Olympic medalists is that the day-today competition with world-leading athletes can bring about the half-a-second improvement that is the difference between medalling at major championships and finishing fourth or fifth. Mullins is a master of his craft and unless his son is similarly successful when the licence passes to him, we will doubtless never see the likes of Willie Mullins ever again. Which will be a blessing for all his rivals who because of his dominance can only ever hope to pick up the crumbs he leaves in his wake.

The B.H.A., in response to the Welsh Government banning greyhound racing in the principality come 2030, have issued a statement saying they do not believe this will have any impact on the continuence of horse racing. I would not be so confident. Our opponents will have their tails up after this success and Chepstow, Ffos Las and Bangor might be next in their gun-sites.

As I wrote several months ago, and taken up by Jonathan Harding in today's Racing Post, good ground is the new Good-To-Firm. It used to be said by trainers that though good ground may not altogether suit a particular horse, they would still run due to good ground being safe ground. I for one was very disappointed by J.P. McManus, a man I revere as one of the greatest men of our sport, criticising John Pullin for not leaving the sprinklers on all night to achieve soft ground for the Thursday of the Cheltenham Festival. I was also disappointed by the statement issued by Willie Mullins where he threatened not to support the Festival in the future if the ground did not suit his needs. These two great men were in the wrong and the sport, and especially John Pullin, deserve an apology. So many trainers had said throughout the winter that they were looking forward to the good spring ground, which was exactly what John Pullin provided. Mullins may be a genius and McManus a truly great man, yet neither of them have as yet achieved the position of gods and they have no divine right to demand soft ground when so many of their rivals and colleagues were in need of good spring ground. In this life we must take with good grace all that we are given; this sport is perhaps the greatest leveller of all human endeavour.