Nicky Henderson has left the door open for a tantalising Gold Cup tilt with Constitution Hill after the hurdling star was entered for the Royal Ascot showpiece.
The 2023 Champion Hurdle hero is set to strut his stuff at Punchestown on Friday in a bid to get back to winning ways following falls at both Cheltenham and Aintree so far this spring, but the Seven Barrows handler is keen to give him the option of trying his hand on the Flat during the summer.
“It’s something we’ve discussed over the last couple of years to be fair,” Henderson told the PA news agency.
“Due to the fact he’s had two tumbles, you could say Flat racing is a good idea, but that’s not really the point and it’s something we’ve mulled over and discussed for a good year or so.
“I know we schooled him over fences, as you saw in the film I put out on Sunday, but he won’t be going chasing and the Flat is another option.
“We have every intention of running at Punchestown on Friday and the plan is to travel on Wednesday, but after that we will take a view.”
The Constitution Hill team once considered heading over fences, but running in the Flat version of the Gold Cup rather than the three-and-a-quarter-mile Cheltenham edition appears more likely after he was one of 25 entries for one of the highlights of the Royal meeting.
Potential rivals include Aidan O’Brien’s Kyprios, who will hope to notch a third win in the Group One event, last year’s St Leger winner Jan Brueghel and James Owen’s dual-purpose performer Burdett Road, a regular challenger to Constitution Hill over hurdles.
However, there is plenty still to be considered before the 10-times hurdles winner is given the go-ahead to deviate from timber for the first time in his illustrious career.
Henderson continued: “I’m certainly not ruling it in, but I’m certainly not ruling it out, otherwise I wouldn’t have put him in the race.
“There are two drawbacks to Ascot and one is the ground. Then you have to consider the timing, it’s June but then that is not too far away and it’s not like you have to keep him going forever.
“I’m not going to rule it out, but you also have to consider he’s never been in a starting stall and then he’s probably more of a two-miler than a two-and-a-half-miler over hurdles, in which case does he even stay two and a half on the Flat?
“The ground would be the most obvious reason not to do it, but every now and then you do get a slow-ground Royal Ascot. We’ll just see what happens this week (at Punchestown) and the next couple of weeks as well.”
