2025 Fighting Fifth Hurdle Tips - Can Constitution Hill roar back to form?

Jon Vine

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Last updated: Fri 28 Nov 2025 11:23

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Jon Vine 28 Nov 2025

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Odds and betting predictions for the 2025 Fighting Fifth Hurdle
This Grade One Hurdle takes place at Newcastle on Saturday 29th November
Constitution Hill is our selection at 15/8

Expired

Nico de Boinville riding Constitution Hill (white) clear the last to win The Ladbrokes Christmas Hurdle. (Getty)

Following on from the Betfair Chase last Saturday, British fans look to Newcastle for their fix of Grade One action this weekend. The Fighting Fifth Hurdle has been won by many of the sport's top two-mile hurdlers down the years, and this weekend's renewal is shaping up to be a cracker.

Here's our free guide to the 2025 Fighting Fifth Hurdle, including our best betting tips.

2025 Fighting Fifth Hurdle Odds

Name	Odds
Constitution Hill	15/8
The New Lion	2/1
Anzadam	9/4
Golden Ace	28/1
Nemean Lion	80/1

2025 Fighting Fifth Hurdle Runners

Five look set to line up in Saturday's Fighting Fifth Hurdle. Topping the market is 2022 winner Constitution Hill, who has been backed into favouritism despite three defeats at the end of last season.

Dan Skelton has pointed rising stable star The New Lion at the 2026 Champion Hurdle. Skelton's star enjoyed an unbeaten novice campaign last term, culminating in an impressive victory in the Turners Novices' Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival.

Lightly-raced five-year-old Anzadam will represent Willie Mullins. Like The New Lion, Mullins' raider will be defending an unbeaten record over hurdles on Saturday, having powered to victory on his two starts of last season.

Champion Hurdle winner, Golden Ace will have to bounce back to form, following an awful performance on her reappearance at Wetherby. The field is completed by Nemean Lion, who was supplemented into the race by Kerry Lee and connections this weekend.

2025 Fighting Fifth Hurdle Tips

No disrespect to Golden Ace and Nemean Lion, but this race revolved around the top three in the market, and the outcome of Saturday's feature will impact the ante-post betting for the Champion Hurdle.

The New Lion is clearly a huge talent, but I never really saw him as a Champion Hurdle contender last season. Plenty of horses have won the Turners and gone on to dominate as two milers down the years, so maybe that will turn out to be the right path for this talented six-year-old.

Anzadam has shown an almost freakish level of ability, especially when winning at Fairyhouse last November. Yet, this five-year-old has only run four times in his career. He's clearly fragile, he's inexperienced, and may not be ready for this sort of challenge just yet.

Out of the three big guns, the one most likely to be 100% ready is CONSTITUTION HILL (15/8). Nicky Henderson is desperate to show the world that this former all-conquering two-miler is back to his best, and Nico De Boinville gave him a sharper at Newbury the other day to blow away the cobwebs.

Constitution Hill was electrifying when winning this contest two years ago. I'm not convinced that Henderson ever had him fully right last term, so for De Boinville's mount to beat a race-fit Lossiemouth in the Christmas Hurdle was some achievement. Performances went pear-shaped in the spring, but Henderson has brought plenty of horses back from the brink down the years, and he remains confident that the ability is still there.

De Boinville may have to make his own running, as both The New Lion and Anzadam like to be held up, and neither Golden Ace nor Nemean Lion go from the front. Those tactics would give Constitution Hill a better look at his hurdles, and the favourite could have a little too much finishing speed if allowed to dictate the tempo.