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Christmas Hurdle at Kempton remains a ‘realistic’ target says Henderson.
Nicky Henderson has issued an upbeat bulletin about the health of his star hurdler Constitution Hill this morning.
Unbeaten under Rules, the sensational 2022 Champion Hurdle hero had been set to make his eagerly-awaited reappearance in the Fighting Fifth at Newcastle on Saturday, but he was found to be lame after a racecourse gallop with Sir Gino at Newbury last week.
An investigation into his lameness revealed that bruising on his pastern was touching a nerve, something Henderson said his vet Dave Matterson had not seen during his 40 years of practice.
Speaking in a video posted on his X account, Henderson said: "As we mentioned on Friday, we've had a fairly mysterious lameness that we couldn't identify so he spent the day with the vets,"
"First, he had an X-ray to see if there was anything untoward, which would have been very unpleasant, ultrasound scans and X-rays revealed nothing. An MRI scan identified a small area with a bit of inflammation in his pastern, near fore, that was actually touching the nerve, and that's what was making him so sore.
"That would have been very sore, but I'm glad to report from being noticeably lame, very noticeably lame, on Friday and Saturday, he's miles better this morning."
Henderson confirmed yesterday that 'super sub' Sir Gino would deputise as Constitution Hill's replacement in the Grade 1 Fighting Fifth at Newcastle on Saturday, with the latter now ready to commence light walking exercise as the Seven Barrows handler attempts to ready him for a defence of his Christmas Hurdle title at Kempton on Boxing Day, the last time Michael Buckley's star was sighted on a recourse.
"We are starting some gentle walking exercises today with a really serious hope we can get back on the road so we can continue his preparation, which will hopefully now lead us to the Christmas Hurdle.
"Obviously the Fighting Fifth is out, but the Christmas Hurdle is still realistic.
"He won it last year, so let's hope that's where we can get him out and he can get his great career back on track."