Cheltenham 2025 Day 1 Tips - March 11

2025 Champion Hurdle News - Key quotes from connections

Jon Vine

Editor

Last updated: 08 Mar 2025

Jon Vine 08 Mar 2025

Share this article

Key quotes from connections ahead of the 2025 Champion Hurdle
Constitution Hill is favourite to win at Cheltenham on Tuesday 11th March
Read quotes from Nicky Henderson, Gordon Elliott and more on our website

Nicky Henderson, the racehorse trainer, poses for a portrait with his star horse Constitution Hill at his Seven Barrows. (Getty)

Champion Hurdle Quotes

Nicky Henderson (Constitution Hill)
Gordon Elliott (Brighterdaysahead)
Willie Mullins (State Man)
James Owen (Burdett Road)
Jeremy Scott (Golden Ace)

Ahead of Tuesday's Champion Hurdle, we've gathered quotes from the connections of this year's runners.

Here are the key quotes ahead of the 2025 Champion Hurdle...

Nicky Henderson (Constitution Hill)

It didn’t start that well in that we had to miss the Fighting Fifth, but everything has been great since. He came back in the Christmas Hurdle, and we thought that if there was ever a time he would be beaten it would be then. I hated Cheltenham the other day as it nearly killed me. We went into Kempton thinking we half could be beaten and then we would be fine for March. He was good at Kempton, but Cheltenham was a no-win situation. If he did something, which as it turned out he did, so Cheltenham was a lot more pressure, but he did win and, apart from smashing through the last, he did it very well. We walked away from Kempton thinking we didn’t have to run him again before March, but he came back a week later and was so well in himself and he looked fantastic.

I suspect I surprised everybody when we ran him at Cheltenham. We have three weeks to go, and his work is still the same and he looks in great shape. Nico will have a sit on him in the week and we will see where he is and how he feels. I suppose he will have to jump a hurdle at some stage just to eliminate that memory of that last hurdle. I don’t know what he did really as I have watched the replay a few times and it’s hard to work out exactly what he did.

There should be plenty of pace in the Champion Hurdle if Brighterdaysahead goes in the race and the one good thing is that Constitution Hill can travel off any pace. He can travel at a very high pace, and he has bags of pace. In the Champion Hurdle two years ago, he did something similar at the last and a lot of horses would have fallen the other day, but he found a leg and galloped off as he was still a fresh horse, but I’d rather he didn’t do it again.

Gordon Elliott (Brighterdaysahead)

Would I have ever had a horse with as good a chance as her? Probably not. She's a lot faster than Apple's Jade.

I'd love to win a Champion Hurdle. We've been lucky enough to be second and third in it and, if we do run her in it, it would be great to win it.

She's in great form, I couldn't be any happier with her, and she'll do a bit of work after racing this weekend. I just want to give her a canter on grass to knock the freshness out of her. Shane McCann rides her every day and he's very happy with her. She looks brilliant.

Obviously it's going to be a huge test for the mare but she's in great shape, her preparation has gone superbly and she's in great order.

gordon elliott — Gordon Elliott chats with the press at Fairyhouse. (Getty)

Willie Mullins (State Man)

It was probably inconclusive on Sunday whether he was back to his best. The minute he had no company, I thought he was pulling himself up. He only does what he has to do, so I’m hoping he had a lot more in reserve. Paul thinks he has anyway, all the time. He has never hidden his admiration for State Man. Obviously a lot will happen before Cheltenham with bits of work between now and then and we'll see how both horses are, but I can’t see Paul getting off him.

James Owen (Burdett Road)

The drying ground is going to be a plus and having gone through it all, me and Tim (Gredley, joint owner) decided that the Champion Hurdle is the right race to run him in.

Immediately after the Kingwell Hurdle at Wincanton we probably felt the County Hurdle was the one to go for, but we have changed our mind. The Kingwell was a little bit messy and I just felt he was wheel spinning on the ground, and Sam (Twiston-Davies) felt the same.

This is going to be competitive, but there is going to be a lot of pace on which will suit us. It will be so exciting to have a runner in the Champion Hurdle. We are going in there as an underdog, but I’m really looking forward to watching him run.

We know it will be hard to win, but he has got a great each-way chance. It is lovely to be going there with him this year having missed the Triumph Hurdle last season.

Jeremy Scott (Golden Ace)

We were the last ones in, because we were sort of waiting on Lossiemouth. Lorcan (Williams, jockey) and I were wanting to go to the Mares' Hurdle, by my owner was very keen to take on the best and go to the Champion Hurdle.

On paper it's probably not the most sensible decision. What's the point in being a race horse owner if you don't have a say and have a dream to where you'd like to end up with your horse. So that's where we're going.

She's shown that she has a huge turn of foot when needed. The Ascot race came when our horses weren't running very well at all, but we're in much better form now.