Michael Buckley, the owner of Constitution Hill, has set his sights on an ambitious tilt at the 2026 Melbourne Cup.
The nine-year-old, who carries Buckley’s colours, won in extraordinary style at Southwell on Friday night. In front of a raucous crowd at the Friday Night Live event, Constitution Hill won by nine-and-a-half lengths.
For a flat race debut, the performance was beyond anyone’s expectations. Beating two horses who had already won on the level, the margin and manner of victory were of a horse who should have a highly competitive future on the flat.
However, the result throws Constitution Hill’s future into possible turmoil. He is now favourite for the 2026 Champion Hurdle, but he has fallen on three of his last four starts.
“The horse should be running…with a view to going to Melbourne” – Buckley
Buckley is now thinking big with regard to flat racing targets too. The path is already being laid out to the Melbourne Cup at Flemington.
“I think the horse should be running around about the end of August or beginning of September,” Buckley said on Luck on Sunday on Racing TV. “Either in the Ebor, or there’s a race at Goodwood, or in the Irish St Leger, with a view to going to Melbourne.
“If you were asking me what I’d like to do, that is what I’d like to aim at.”
That would be a major campaign for a horse of his age. Yet, the manner of his success suggests it is realistic to get carried away.
Although the flat is now high on connections’ minds, there is clearly a sense of unfinished business at Cheltenham too.
“For me, if he doesn’t run, I don’t see him running over hurdles again this year – that’s 2026.
“But if he ran and let’s say he fell – and God forbid he does that – he would never run over hurdles again ever. If he ran and won it would be a hell of a swansong. It would put a few demons to bed for me, I’ve got to say.”
One of the difficulties Buckley has is that he will attend the Cheltenham Festival on Tuesday 10 March. He admits that the temptation to run in the Champion Hurdle is significant.
“I’m due to go to Cheltenham on the Tuesday and if he runs it will be very, very hard on my heart, and if he doesn’t run and something else wins I’m going to think we could have won that race.
“I really don’t want to sound disrespectful, but whatever those (other Champion Hurdle) horses do none of them have been winning by 20 lengths or breaking track records. So, I’m going to think we could have won it.
“The question is do I want to watch a race that’s hard on my head or hard on my heart. It’s going to be hard on one of them which ever way we go.”