Constitution Hill usurped as favourite by Amo Racing rival on Betfair Exchange with close to £150,000 matched on race
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Constitution Hill is on the drift for his Flat debut at Southwell on Friday evening, with Nicky Henderson’s hurdling superstar drifting out to 3.45 at 2.30pm on the Betfair Exchange and replaced at the head of the market by the Amo-racing owned Square Necker at 3.05.
More than £150,000 has been matched on the SBK Road To Cheltenham Novice Stakes (7.30) on the Betfair Exchange, more than has been matched on Southwell’s other eight races combined.
More than £90,000 of that matched was on Constitution Hill alone. By contrast, over £25,000 has been matched on Square Necker.
The major bookmaking firms have also reported strong interest, with Square Necker contesting favouritism in most high street books. The pair are 7-4 joint favourites in some places, with Square Necker a general 15-8. Constitution Hill, who was 7-4 on Friday morning, is a general 15-8. Tripoli Flyer has received support into 11-2 from 17-1 when the market first opened.
Betfair spokesperson Sam Rosbottom said: “The eyes of the racing world will be on Southwell this evening, and it’s no surprise that one of our most popular racing markets on the Betfair Exchange this week has been the 7.30, with over £140,000 matched and rising.
“Earlier this week, Constitution Hill was matched as short as evens, however there’s been a significant drift since then, and there aren’t many signs of it stopping anytime soon.
“While this run on the Flat hopes to boost the confidence levels of Constitution Hill ahead of the festival, as things stand punters’ confidence is going in the opposite direction.”
Paul Nicholls: felt the Kingwell Hurdle at Wincanton was a better option for Constitution HillCredit: Edward Whitaker
Paul Nicholls is among those confused by the decision to switch codes with the 2023 Champion Hurdle winner, with the 14-time champion trainer of the belief last weekend’s Kingwell Hurdle would have been a better fit in attempt to improve his recent record of FF5F.
He said: “I’m different to Nicky Henderson, who is obviously a fantastic trainer, in that, if Constitution Hill were my horse, I would have run him in the Kingwell Hurdle at Wincanton last weekend.
“I know he’s had a fall but if you are thinking about running him in the Champion Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival next month, if he had cantered around Wincanton he would probably have won with his head in his chest and it would have done him good.
“What will be achieved by running him on the Flat, I don’t know. Nicky is in a no-win situation in that, if Constitution Hill wins great, if he doesn’t win, they will all be crabbing him. But Nicky knows what he is doing so you have to trust him and his belief in his horse.
“There is a lot of hype about nothing really. It is good to see Constitution Hill out there again, but you are not going to learn anything about him by running him on the Flat.”
Sky Bet confirmed 66 per cent of stakes had been on Constitution Hill in the race, while Paddy Power are expecting Constitution Hill to go off favourite after a flurry of late support.
Oisin Murphy: rides Constitution Hill on his Flat debutCredit: Edward Whitaker
Paul Binfield, a spokesperson for Paddy Power, said: “Constitution Hill has been extremely popular in the market with us, being backed nearly to the exclusion of everything else in the race.
“While I think plenty of people will be keen to take him on today, the weight of public support is likely to see him shorten as we get closer to the race. The race has proved our highest turnover race of the day by a distance and we would expect it to continue in that manner.”
Unibet’s head of racing Ed Nicholson added: “We’ve seen five times the amount of business on the novice stakes he runs in, compared with usual patterns of similar races on the all weather, and that is only likely to extrapolate as race time is reached, especially as we are super boosting that race for customers.”
Read more . . .
‘He’s a superstar and it’s a privilege to ride him’ – Oisin Murphy confident of ‘very good run’ as Constitution Hill makes Flat debut
Constitution Hill runs at Southwell: runners, odds and verdict for the £40,000 Friday Night Live feature race
Flat or jumps – win, lose or fall – Nicky Henderson will make the right call with Constitution Hill
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