The New Lion favourite as Champion Hurdle picture is shaken up

Constitution Hill’s absence from the Cheltenham Festival has seen another shake-up in the Unibet Champion Hurdle picture, with Dan Skelton’s The New Lion again favourite with most firms for the opening-day feature.

Despite three falls from his last four appearances over timber, the 2023 champion shot to the top of the betting for the two-mile hurdling crown with an imperious performance on his eagerly-awaited Flat debut at a packed-out Southwell on Friday night.

However, the master of Seven Barrows and owner Michael Buckley insisted on letting the dust settle before making the head scratching “50-50” call on a Cheltenham Festival bid, deciding on Wednesday focus will now remain on the level.

That decision has seen Dan Skelton’s Unibet Hurdle winner regain his position at the top of the market with Brett Williams of the race sponsor saying: “Another twist to a market that has had five different favourites since last March but maybe a little less surprising to some this one.

“You could see it happening when we started seeing money for the others as you would expect. It has led to The New Lion being shortened into 5-2 favourite with Brighterdaysahead an unchanged 3-1 even in Constitution Hill’s absence.

“We are currently 7-2 from 5-1 Lossiemouth as a result of today’s news, however it remains to be seen where she still runs, as her price for the Mares’ Hurdle has shortened again in the exchanges.”

The New Lion is also favourite with Boylesports given uncertainty surrounding the challenge heading over from Ireland, with the layer also confirming they would be refunding all ante-post bets on Constitution Hill.

Spokesperson Brian O’Keeffe said: “The Champion Hurdle has easily been the most volatile market in the lead-up to Cheltenham and the news Constitution Hill won’t run has turned it upside down once again.

“He would have been a nightmare result for us as punters were really buying into a dream result, but hope isn’t lost for the home team.

“We make The New Lion our new favourite and with question marks remaining over where we’ll see Lossiemouth, Brighterdaysahead flies the flag in Ireland.”

Other layers are preferring to look ahead to Constitution Hill’s future endeavours on the level, with a trip to Australia for the Melbourne Cup already mooted as a possible ambition for later this year.

Sam Boswell of BetVictor said: “While it is disappointing Constitution Hill will not line up in the Champion Hurdle, it’s completely understandable why connections are seeking an alternative autumn of his career.

“The Cheltenham Festival’s loss will be the Flat season’s gain and turnover on the Southwell race shows just how exciting it will be for racing to have a high-class jumper run on the Flat.

“The sky could be the limit for him in his new discipline where there are exciting opportunities to be had and we have trimmed him for the Melbourne Cup to 16-1 from 25s after positive noises from both Michael Buckley and officials in Australia.”

Coral’s David Stevens added: “New challenges await Constitution Hill after his debut Flat success, and he’s already second favourite for the Melbourne Cup later in the year, so his appeal to punters seems set to continue for some time yet.”