KEMPTON, England, Feb 25 (Reuters) - Superstar hurdler Constitution Hill will not take his place in this year's Champion Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival, trainer Nicky Henderson said on Wednesday, after a series of crashing falls ended a previously unbeaten run.
One of racing's most successful hurdlers, Constitution Hill was unbeaten in 10 starts and amassed almost 900,000 pounds ($1.21 million) in prize money before three falls last year called into question his racing career.
Hopes of a return at Cheltenham were raised when Constitution Hill enjoyed a confidence-boosting run on the flat on Friday, winning the race easily.
Success at British jump racing's premier festival next month would have cemented Constitution Hill's position as one of racing's greats, but Henderson said the '50-50' decision had been made because the risks were too great.
"(Owner) Michael Buckley and I have not surprisingly spent a lot of time soul-searchingand thinking over Constitution Hill's future and have sadly concluded that he will not be running in the Champion Hurdle the week after next," he said in a statement on X.
"Last Friday night was for us all a magical occasion and we so appreciated his popularity and the love and admiration everybody showed to Conrad, as he is fondly called here.
"It was a terrific night for both him, us and, I believe, British Horse Racing and we are very aware of the public perception and the possible consequences of running over hurdles and feel it is not fair to ask him and (jockey) Nico (De Boinville) to do it again."
($1 = 0.7414 pounds)
(Reporting by Virginia Furness; additional reporting by Martyn Herman in London; editing by Clare Fallon)
