English/Ire
Geraghty believes “it will take a good one” to beat Constitution Hill
Former jockey Barry Geraghty believes that “it will take a good one” to get past Constitution Hill when he makes his Flat debut under the lights at Southwell on Friday evening.
Constitution Hill has been the talk of the town in recent months and following a whole host of jumping woes, which has seen him fall on three of his last four starts, Nicky Henderson's star will look to get his career back on track when switching to the flat under Oisin Murphy.
Plenty in the industry have formed an opinion on whether Constitution Hill will pass his latest assignment in flying colours or not and whilst not everybody is in the same boat, one man feels that the mile and a half at Southwell will be right up his street.
"Constitution Hill is a very good work horse. He shows so much natural pace at home, he's not a horse who is reliant on a jump to make him a good horse," said Geraghty, who bought the former Champion Hurdle as a foal.
"Moscow Flyer and Macs Joy were two really good two-milers, but they wouldn't excel on the gallops – they needed a jump to propel them to the top level.
"A mile-and-a-half around Southwell should be right up his street and there's no better man than Oisin [Murphy] to have in the saddle. Judging on what he shows at home, you'd like to think he'll win and it will take a smart one to come home in front of him over a mile-and-a-half.
"Of the opposition, Daddy Long Legs is the obvious one, but I'd probably be more fearful of Gambino. I was talking to Noel Meade, who formerly trained him, and he said he's a fair horse. He won over a trip shorter than this last summer, so he obviously doesn't lack pace.
"It's great for him [Constitution Hill] to get the chance of a day out. He's had a troubled time of it for the past two years really, so it's good for him to get out and hopefully have a nice experience. Obviously, you'd like to think he's going to go and win, but it's just nice for him to go to a racecourse, soak in the atmosphere, have a race and be competitive.
"You can bring him for a racecourse gallop, which is in a non-competitive environment, but there will be a different energy in Southwell – he's going to draw a crowd and there's going to be an atmosphere. He's an alert horse, so he will take everything in. It will be good to get a little bit of that enthusiasm out of his system, because I know he's going to be really full of himself. It's important to get some of that fizz out of him before a possible trip to Cheltenham. It's good for the horse more than anything, so it makes a lot of sense for Nicky [Henderson] to have gone this route."
It remains to be seen whether Constitution Hill will line up in an attempt to regain his Champion Hurdle crown at Prestbury Park next month, although Geraghty revealed that the vibes have been positive from the Seven Barrows camp, with jumping guru Yogi Breisner involved in the schooling process.
"I'm sure his schooling at home will dictate whether he is a Cheltenham runner or he is a Flat runner from here on," he said when speaking to William Hill.
"There are good vibes on his schooling – Yogi Breisner has been with him a few times and I believe he's done really well, so that's very positive.
"As he gets closer to Cheltenham, I'd imagine his schooling would get sharper pace wise, and if he can come through that with no red flags, you'd love to think that we could be looking at him in the Champion Hurdle in three weeks' time."
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