Nico de Boinville had a beaming smile on his face after Constitution Hill came home in splendid isolation during his Kempton Park gallop on Tuesday morning.

It was in stark contrast to the glum faces that were on show at the Sunbury venue a year ago when National Hunt racing's star performer produced a lacklustre effort on the Kempton Polytrack, which subsequently revealed a respiratory infection that ended his hopes of a Champion Hurdle defence.