IF there is anything we’ve learned about the shorter-distance hurdling division this season, it’s that just as soon as we expect the answers of key questions to arrive, the picture suddenly changes.

Netflix is on the cusp of launching a new Triple Crown racing series in America, but there’s no way the documentary will feature anything like the number of plot twists we’ve seen over hurdles this term. Hands down, it has truly been the rollercoaster division of National Hunt racing.

The Fighting Fifth was supposed to be the first test of whether Constitution Hill was back to himself; then came the public workout at Newbury. He couldn’t live with Sir Gino, lameness was discovered in the Newcastle lead-up and he ultimately was ruled out of the contest.

Arise Sir Gino, the super-sub. He bolted up in a Fighting Fifth where Mystical Power (remember him? He was as short as 8/1 for the Champion Hurdle at the time) blew out and never threatened to resurface to his old shine all season. All of a sudden, as of November 30th, Sir Gino was cut to just 3/1 for the Champion. As it turned out, we never got to see him jump another hurdle in public again all season, instead sent chasing for a spectacular Kempton success at Christmas.

In a season full of market swings and roundabouts, a week earlier, reigning champion State Man had been pushed out from 5/2 to 4/1 for the Champion Hurdle after defeat to Brighterdaysahead in the Morgiana. The mare’s odds tumbled from as big as an unconsidered 14/1 to between 4/1 and 7/1 for Cheltenham’s two-mile highlight.

What came a week later? Just the small matter of Lossiemouth becoming the 6/4 favourite for the Champion Hurdle. A long-range plan to target the two-mile summit looked more alive than ever before, when brushing aside Teahupoo in the Hatton’s Grace.

Merry-go-round

The Christmas period was supposed to put all records straight in both Britain and Ireland. A Kempton dust-up between Lossiemouth and the returning Constitution Hill would serve as a barometer of whether the Seven Barrows giant was really his old self. Meanwhile, State Man was sent off 4/9 at Leopardstown to prove his Punchestown defeat to Brighterdaysahead was purely a matter of lacking fitness.

When the answers should have been arriving, instead the picture only got murkier. Constitution Hill wins, doesn’t blow everyone away, but collects nonetheless off a year-long layoff. The Lossiemouth camp are left convinced this wasn’t the real version of their mare in second (Willie Mullins: “Paul was surprised that she wasn’t herself.”)

As for the Irish Christmas cracker, the battle never developed. A whopping 31 lengths separated a brilliant Brighterdaysahead and lifeless State Man.

The scores on the doors after the Christmas action? 4/6 Constitution Hill, 7/2 Brighterdaysahead, 6/1 Lossiemouth, 8/1 State Man, 10/1 Anzadam, 16/1 Sir Gino, 33/1 bar. Golden Ace’s Champion Hurdle odds at that time? A gigantic 100/1. She’d go on to be beaten by Lucky Place and Gowel Road in the Relkeel Hurdle on New Year’s Day after that too.

A stroll as 1/12 favourite in the International Hurdle at Cheltenham in January goes pretty much as expected for Constitution Hill, though a shuddering error at the last puts the fear of God into any of his supporters at those skimpy odds. He remains the 4/6 favourite for the Champion.

Surely then, the Dublin Racing Festival would confirm the pecking order of Willie Mullins’ two-mile hurdlers? Think again. The suspense rolls on. Against market expectations, Paul Townend picks State Man in the Irish Champion over Lossiemouth, who goes off 8/11 favourite. A horrible fall four flights from home nearly sees the mare bring down her stablemate.

As if that wasn’t drama enough, the champion trainer goes on to suggest that a flock of seagulls could have been the reason for the tumble (“A flock of seagulls just took off and maybe that took her eye off, because she just pricked her ears straight before the hurdle and then just didn’t get up; it was if she was looking at something ahead of her”).

State Man wins his third Irish Champion by six and a half lengths, not blowing anyone away in the process, as confirmed by the ante-post market reaction: Lossiemouth 4/1 (from 11/4) and State Man 7/1 (from 8/1).

Bizarre feature

You’d expect all the twists to have wound down by now, but Lossiemouth makes a disappointing switch to the Mares’ Hurdle. Gordon Elliott and Gigginstown House Stud show some bottle by running Brighterdaysahead in the big dance.

To think of a world in which none of the big four would be placed in the 2025 Champion Hurdle was unfathomable a week beforehand, but that is just what happened. Risky jumping came back to bite Constitution Hill, Brighterdaysahead never fired and State Man probably gained more respect for his talents while falling in this year’s renewal compared to winning the same prize a year earlier.

In the final Champion Hurdle betting summary, Constitution Hill was sent off 1/2, Brighterdaysahead traded at close to 4/11 in-running (surprisingly so, given she never really looked to travel with her usual zest) and State Man was 1/25 at the time of his cruel exit. You could have backed Golden Ace at 74/1 in-running, and the Tote Trifecta - rounded off by 66/1 shot Burdett Road and 150/1 underdog Winter Fog filling the frame - paid £4,432.90 to a £1 stake. Some would say it should have paid more!

This week’s Aintree Hurdle again promised to deliver concrete answers to long-standing questions about the pecking order of the hurdling fraternity, yet it again only left us with more uncertainty. For the first time in his life in open company, Constitution Hill wasn’t sent off at odds-on (SP evens) and back-to-back falls spelled disaster - two flights from home this time, just before we might have been set for an answer.

Hats off to Lossiemouth. She kept up her end of the deal by following up a Mares’ Hurdle rout with a classy Liverpool triumph. The talk now seems to point to Constitution Hill reappearing at Punchestown, but if this rollercoaster season for two-mile hurdlers has taught us anything, it’s to expect the unexpected.

Anticipating that we’ll have an answer as to whether State Man is the superior operator at this stage of their careers? Maybe this Wacky Races-like category of National Hunt action in 2024/’25 tells you to think again.

For what it’s worth, I think there’s every chance the best prospect for the 2026 Champion Hurdle didn’t run at all this week. To these eyes, there was a real star quality to The New Lion in this season’s Turners Novices’ Hurdle at Cheltenham.

Given all the twists and turns of the past few months, it’s hard to think of anything worse than an ante-post bet on next year’s Champion Hurdle, though. If Netflix is on the hunt for more dramatic documentary material, try following two-mile hurdlers for a year. Now, that’s not something you’d have said a season or two ago.

Sponsors’ odds: 4/1 Lossiemouth, 4/1 The New Lion, 5/1 Constitution Hill, 6/1 Kopek Des Bordes, 8/1 State Man, 12/1 Majborough, 16/1 Anzadam, 20/1 Wodhooh, 20/1 Vauban (isn’t he in Australia?!), 25/1 Golden Ace, 25/1 Brighterdaysahead, 25/1 Poniros, 33/1 bar.