In an exclusive chat with BoyleSports, Irish horse racing trainer Warren Ewing, the man who discovered superstar Constitution Hill, is ready to put the hurdler in the all-time great debate if he can win the Champion Hurdle this March and back it up in 2026.
Constitution Hill, the 8/13 favourite for the Champion Hurdle per the latest Cheltenham odds at BoyleSports, won the prestigious event at the 2023 Cheltenham Festival and looked on course to repeat that success last year before being ruled out of running at Prestbury Park due to ailments.
Ewing, who bought Constitution Hill for £16,500 before selling him on for £120,000 further down the line, tells us the story of this great horse and how he knew straight away that he was ‘pretty special’.
Constitution Hill Would Be the Greatest of All Time if He Wins a Third Champion Hurdle in 2026
I’d say that would be the plan 100%. You’d have to try it wouldn’t you? He would then be one of the greatest of all time, if he isn’t already.
He will never go chasing. Istabraq could have gone chasing but when you’ve got the best, why risk it. Why when you have something so good? When you’ve got the best, why would you?
You’d have to try to emulate Istabraq wouldn’t you?
British Racing Needs Constitution Hill to Take On the Irish Dominance in the Sport
It’s great for England to have him because they need horses like that to take the Irish boys on! It would also be better for racing if the English were doing better. The Irish boys have all the money so they can buy the horses. The English need to start spending a bit more!
He is a star. Everyone knows him who’s involved in racing and beyond.
When I First Saw Constitution Hill I Thought He Was Different Class
Barry [Geraghty, former jockey] had him first and I took him home to graze him as a foal after I bought him. Barry broke him and sent him up to me.
He was so laid back. I had a lot of three year olds going at the same stage who would have been further ahead of him when he came and I jumped on him the first day he came, we were trotting around, did a bit of cantering and then I gave him a slap down the neck and he just went. I turned to my head girl and said, ‘This is the one!’ He was just so powerful and when he got going, he was different class.
I Would Have Paid £25,000 for Constitution Hill but We Managed To Get Him For A Lot Cheaper
I bought him as a foal at Tattersalls. Blue Bresil his sire was just getting going at that time and hadn’t had many runners. But he had a very good horse in France. A mentor of mine, Wilson Dennison from near me, who sold a lot of good horses – Shaneshill, Yorkhill and Bellshill among them - had a Blue Bresil horse at that time which was quite good. That made me look in his direction.
We would have probably gone to £25k at the time we liked him so much. In the end we paid £16,500. Barry said he thought we had got a right result.
But you always think you have robbed one when they turn out good. You forget it when they’re not up to it and you’re losing money.
He was always exceptionally good from the word go. He was my pick of my bunch of 15 or 20 that year. He is just special with a great attitude. He takes everything in his stride. Nothing bothers him. He eats, sleeps and runs.
Constitution Hill is a place in Dublin where all the traffic merges and there are constant traffic jams. Barry chose it. I sent him down a list of names and that’s the one he came back with.
A Special Horse
When I actually first ran him in his maiden point to point at Tipperary at the age of four in April 2021, Constitution Hill actually had a virus where he finished second. He got so tired. He tried his heart out in the race.
He was clear going to the last but fell out through the last and the jockey nearly fell off him. He was back to standstill, the other horse went past him, but he rallied and was only beaten a short head on the line.
The two of them were 30 or 40 lengths clear of everything else. He was so tired afterwards we didn’t even take him back to the parade ring. We knew there was something wrong with him. He started falling apart and lost a lot of weight.
That was just before the sales in May and when we got there, he looked absolutely terrible. He was just fading like mad.
I told everyone at the sales about it. Eddie O’Leary told me to take him home and he would buy him in a month’s time off me. We would have got more money for him. I’m sure Eddie has a few regrets! But that’s the game. It could have gone right or wrong.
We didn’t really know what was wrong with him, so we decided to just sell him on the day. His whole back end just fell away.
When young horses get sick it really knocks them into the ground especially after a run. He’d tried really hard to win that race. I’d seen it happen before.
I told everyone who was anyone beforehand that this was THE horse, that he was pretty special. I told Eddie O’Leary, Nicky Henderson and others what he was like.
Beforehand we had expected to make £250,000 on the day, but because he was sick, he wasn’t showing himself well. He went for £120,000.
Nicky Henderson Is on a Par With Willie Mullins
We treated him the same as all the others. Same food, same work, learning too how to train him. When we had him as a point to pointer he was probably only half fit because he was working away with the other horses and he was so much better than them. He was doing everything with ease while the others were having their work cut out. You don’t want to disappoint them so you’re holding him back, so they finish beside him most of the time.
That’s why sending him to someone like Nicky [Henderson, trainer] was the making of him. Nicky is the best trainer in England by a long way, easily on par with Willie Mullins, Gordon and Henry. Every year he comes up with a good one like Sir Gino too. He is brilliant and a real gentleman.
‘I Told You So!’ Is What I Tell All The Trainers Who Missed Out On Him
You are sad to see him go but he was going to a really good trainer in Nicky. I get a right kick out of him every time I see him running. I still think of his as my own in a way! I had told all the best trainers to buy him. When I see them now, I say, ‘I told you so!’
He is the best horse I have ever sat on. I have ridden a lot of good horses in my time too, Gold Cup horses. He had so much speed, instant speed, his jumping was so fluid he was so quick over his hurdles.
I knew he was always good. We buy a nice type of horse and this time of year you can start to pick up the better ones coming through
We don’t keep them. I like to see them going on. The big trainers have better facilities, nicer gallops, to take those at that high level you need all the proper training set up.
Better Days Ahead is mine as well, just beaten a head in the Grade 1 at Leopardstown over Christmas by Croke Park who was ridden by Sam, my son.
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