AS anyone living in Ireland for the last few months will tell you, when it rains it tends to pour.

To say the spring has been a difficult one for Nicky Henderson would be underselling the situation greatly. In truth, it has been a nightmare run for one of the finest horsemen of his generation, and the timing of his stable’s dip in form could hardly have been worse.

Anyone who knows how much the Cheltenham Festival means to the master of Seven Barrows ought to have a considerable level of sympathy for how this year’s Cotswolds extravaganza unfolded for him.

Eight of his 16 runners at the meeting were pulled up, and - while there were some bright spots with Luccia running big to be third in the Champion Hurdle, and fourth-placed efforts from Lucky Place in the Coral Cup and Bold Endeavour in the Pertemps Final - his other five runners finished seventh (beaten 20 lengths), 10th, 12th, 14th and 15th.

It was the first Cheltenham Festival since 2008 without a Henderson winner. There appeared to be an acceptance of the situation after day one of the meeting, with many of the stable stars withdrawn from later in the week.

Jonbon was taken out of a Champion Chase he might have even been able to win without being at 100% peak form, given El Fabiolo’s exit, Festival banker Sir Gino was not declared for the Triumph Hurdle and Shishkin missed his Gold Cup date. If he returns for a crack at the Blue Riband event next spring as an 11-year-old, he will have to overcome history as the oldest winner of the race since What A Myth in 1969. A tough ask.

Despite all these setbacks, the toughest pill to swallow for Henderson will surely be the absence of Constitution Hill. From the original date for the Fighting Fifth being scrapped over weather issues to a dirty scope forcing him to miss Festival Trials Day, his pre-Cheltenham workout going awry, the respiratory infection that then came to light, missing his defence of the Champion Hurdle and – most recently – ending up in an equine hospital with colic concerns, it has been a season to forget for the most talented National Hunt horse in training.

It goes without saying that we all hope the unbeaten hurdler can make a full recovery from what was described as “a few traumatic days” last week.

Lofty standing

Ever since he smashed the track record in his 22-length Supreme Novices’ Hurdle rout in 2022, there has been some level of discussion over how highly the Blue Bresil gelding could possibly rank among the all-time hurdling greats, and his peak performances have provided fuel to have those conversations.

His outstanding Champion Hurdle win last year saw him handed the highest winning figure in the race’s history from the Racing Post Ratings team with a mark of 177+. Only five two-mile hurdlers have been rated higher than him in Timeform’s history: Night Nurse (182), Istabraq (180), Monksfield (180), Persian War (179) and Comedy Of Errors (178).

However, assuming that Constitution Hill will make a full recovery during the off-season, what the past few months of woe have done is upped the ante for the dual Cheltenham Festival scorer’s return next season. The stakes have arguably never been higher for him to begin putting together a CV worthy of his talents.

Having essentially turned seven last month, we should be seeing Constitution Hill entering the prime of his career right now. Instead, a combination of setbacks and light campaigning has meant we have only seen him race three times in the last 466 days. That figure will be up to 705 days if he isn’t seen again until next season’s Fighting Fifth Hurdle at Newcastle.

Few would make the case for State Man holding the same ability as Michael Buckley’s superstar, but he has now won at the same amount of Cheltenham Festivals as Constitution Hill and collected one more Grade 1 win (nine) than his great rival has had hurdles starts during his entire career (eight). Istabraq won 23 of his 29 starts over hurdles and the only Cheltenham Festival he missed between 1997 and 2002 was due to the outbreak of foot and mouth disease.

Greatness criteria

When it comes to Constitution Hill, his individual performances and ridiculously high level of ability allow him to be viewed among the most talented hurdlers of all time, but being considered the greatest arguably requires a different set of qualities.

Longevity and the depth of a horse’s CV - alongside talent - are key strands when establishing who are the greatest athletes of any generation.

While Constitution Hill might be as good as we’ve seen, his current race record leaves him a fair way short of earning the title of the best hurdler of all time. With that in mind, next season ought to be huge when it comes to cementing his reputational standing, and it would be a sight for sore eyes if we got to see him in action more frequently than has been the case in recent seasons.

There are understandable health reasons for his absence this spring, but he made four appearances a season earlier and three in the campaign before that. If the sport of darts thought their generational talent Luke Littler would only play three or four nights a year, promoters of the industry would surely implode.

Reputational view

Ruby Walsh raised an interesting point surrounding Galopin Des Champs reputation before his second Cheltenham Gold Cup triumph last month.

“I hope he can win at Cheltenham and then go on to Punchestown as well, because that’s then the path Willie will follow again with him next year,” Walsh said on a Racing TV press call.

“That’s the kind of campaigning you want to see. When you look at Al Boum Photo having won two Gold Cups, if Galopin Des Champs wins the 2024 Cheltenham Gold Cup, which horse will be held in higher regard in history? It’s already Galopin Des Champs [before the 2024 Cheltenham Festival] because of how many times we’ve seen him, how much racing he’s done compared to Al Boum Photo.

“I think that’s what made Kauto Star great,” continued Walsh. “It’s what made Desert Orchid great, and Istabraq. Horses only become great by continuously running and winning a lot of the time. I hope it’s what Galopin Des Champs can do. Every sport needs superstars.”

Last week, news emerged that the Bowe family’s once-in-a-lifetime stalwart Limestone Lad had died at the age of 32. His career over obstacles spanned five years and 19 days, and he managed to amass the following immense form figures: 522514 / 1112121113 / 122111114112 / 211114113 / 221111211 / 1111123.

No reasonable racing fan is expecting to see Constitution Hill anything so often, but - provided he fully overcomes his spring setbacks - it would be a breath of fresh air for the sport if he is seen more regularly and is campaigned ambitiously in 2024/’25. If there are ambitions for him to be considered as the greatest hurdler of all time, a big season next term is an absolute must.