Constitution Hill is the unbeaten six-year-old who is set to headline the opening day of the Cheltenham Festival in the Unibet Champion Hurdle. Trained by Nicky Henderson, he has won both the Fighting Fifth and Christmas Hurdle with ease, and racing fans are eagerly anticipating his return to the Festival after his impressive performance in last year’s Supreme Novices’ Hurdle. Henderson believes that Constitution Hill is doing “freakish things,” and that his racing brain is “brilliant.” If he wins the Champion Hurdle, it would be Henderson’s ninth victory in the race.

State Man, trained by Willie Mullins, is expected to provide the biggest challenge to Constitution Hill. He won the County Hurdle with ease last year and has quickly progressed into a top-level operator, culminating in his all-the-way success in the Irish Champion Hurdle. Mullins believes that State Man is good enough to win the Champion Hurdle, but acknowledges the challenge posed by Constitution Hill, who he describes as the “full package.” Mullins is also represented by Vauban, the winner of the Triumph Hurdle at last year’s Festival.

The other Irish challenger is Gordon Elliott’s Zanahiyr, while the remaining runners in the seven-strong field are Nigel Twiston-Davies’ I Like To Move It, last year’s fifth-placed Not So Sleepy trained by Hughie Morrison, and Jason The Militant, trained by Phil Kirby.