CONSTITUTION THRILL

Festival fever growing after final-flight scare

- MELISSA JONES

CONSTITUTION HILL overcame a shocking final-flight blunder to deliver at building-society odds of 1-12 on his Cheltenham return yesterday.

Nicky Henderson’s superstar was back at the track for the first time since he joined the greats with a nine-length Champion Hurdle supremacy in March 2023.

Ruled out of his title defence by a bug affecting Seven Barrows, Constitution Hill began the ultimate sporting comeback on familiar territory at Kempton over Christmas.

The Unibet Hurdle defection of top-class rival Lossiemouth – who was chasing his shadow in the London suburbs – left Henderson’s unbeaten thoroughbred with a simple task on Festival Trials Day.