Constitution Hill Bahrain Plan Emerges as Grass Return Nears
Henderson Weighs Options for Star
Nicky Henderson is considering a run in Bahrain worth $400,000 for Constitution Hill, opening up a fresh international avenue after the horse's Melbourne Cup ambitions were abandoned. The nine-year-old, who won the Gr.1 Champion Hurdle in 2023, has been building a Flat campaign in 2026 and remains among the most recognisable names in Henderson's Seven Barrows string.
Constitution Hill finished fourth of five runners in the Gr.3 September Stakes, beaten five and three-quarter lengths by Pride Of Arras with Billy Loughnane riding, a run that ended his Melbourne Cup entry hopes and prompted a 7lb rise to an official BHA rating of 108. Henderson had earlier trained him to a 22-length Supreme Novices' Hurdle win and the Champion Hurdle success that followed a year later.
“We always said today would tell us what to do next,” Henderson said after the September Stakes defeat. The trainer has since set out a broader distance range for the horse's remaining assignments, describing a corridor that suited a stayer rather than a miler.
“I don't think you'd want to go under a mile and a half for sure, 12, 13, 14 looks the range of what you'd do,” Henderson said. The revised rating has also changed the shape of the horse's options at home, closing off a return to handicap company for the remainder of the campaign.
Henderson Sets Out a Stayer's Range
“The two English races I'd be looking at are the Cumberland Lodge or the St Simon, they're the obvious two and both Group 3s,” Henderson said. Both races would give Constitution Hill his first taste of turf on the Flat, having raced only on the all-weather at Southwell and Kempton so far in 2026.
“He'd be ready for the first one, but we'll see. Ground will be important, but I can't wait to get him back on grass and he's in good form,” Henderson said. The trainer has consistently linked any decision on timing to how the horse recovers physically from his run at Kempton in the September Stakes.
“I can't believe going on turf will hinder him. He doesn't mind the all-weather and he moves well on it, but racing on it at Kempton would have been much quicker than when he used to gallop on it before Cheltenham every year,” Henderson said, drawing a distinction between the pace of the surface at Kempton and the slower ground the horse worked over during his hurdling career.
“Barney Clifford would make it ride much slower then. Why would he be better on grass? I don't know, but I'd love to see him back on it with some give in the ground,” Henderson said. The comment underlines how much weight the trainer places on ground conditions when the final call is made on where the horse runs next.
Fourth at Kempton Lifts Rating to 108
“We've said we might go international at some stage,” Henderson said of the wider plan taking shape for the closing months of the season. “There's a $400,000 race in Bahrain, so we're looking at that. I've never been to Dubai, Bahrain or anywhere near it!”
The figure matches the Bahrain Long Distance Cup, a new $400,000 handicap over 14 furlongs added to the card at the Rashid Equestrian and Horseracing Club on 13 November — the same raceday on which the Bahrain International Trophy has been promoted to Group 1 status for 2026, with prize money raised to $1.5 million and past winners including Lord Glitters, Spirit Dancer and Royal Champion.
The remark marks a departure for a trainer who has built his reputation almost entirely on British jumps and Flat form, and it signals how far Constitution Hill's raceplan has shifted since his hurdling days ended. All three routes under consideration would be run on turf, a surface Henderson has been eager to test since the horse's rating climbed following his run at Kempton.
Henderson has given no indication that a decision is imminent, and has repeatedly tied any confirmation to how Constitution Hill trains on in the coming weeks. The trainer's comments leave the Cumberland Lodge Stakes, the St Simon Stakes and the Bahrain option all live, with ground and recovery cited as the deciding factors before any entry is made.
Whichever route is chosen, the horse's rise from 101 to 108 on the official BHA scale means handicap company is no longer part of the conversation, sharpening the field of races realistically open to him this autumn. Henderson's remarks suggest the choice will not be made until closer to each race's entry stage.