Constitution Hill will not run in next month's Champion Hurdle after Nicky Henderson ruled his stable star out of a jumps return, with his future now lying solely on the flat.
The 2023 Champion Hurdle winner had dramatically drifted for his Cheltenham target Feb. 25 with the outcome of a crucial schooling session in Lambourn unknown.
And his trainer posted soon after on X, saying: "Michael Buckley and I have not surprisingly spent a lot of time soul searching and thinking over Constitution Hill's future and have sadly concluded that he will not be running in the Unibet Champion Hurdle the week after next.
"This is a sad day for a lot of us, particularly the National Hunt fraternity that would have liked to have seen Constitution Hill try to regain his crown and sad for all here, especially Nico (de Boinville), who has spent so much time trying to iron out our jumping issues.
"However, he leaves the jumping world sound, happy, and ready for the next chapter. It has been a staggering journey so far and Michael has had to endure some dark days, but of course enjoyed the enormous highs and thrills of an extraordinary horse."
Henderson said this week he had been changing his mind "every day" about the Cheltenham Festival participation of Constitution Hill in advance of the schooling session.
He was clear favorite with most bookmakers for the Champion Hurdle before Wednesday's work, despite falling in three of his last four starts over hurdles, including when attempting to regain his title on the opening day of last season's Festival.
His position in the market had strengthened on the back of a hugely successful flat debut at Southwell Feb. 20, when the 9-year-old bolted up in a 1 1/2-mile novice by 9 1/2 lengths under champion jockey Oisin Murphy.
Henderson added: "Last Friday night was a magical occasion for us all and we so appreciated his popularity and the love and admiration everybody showed to Conrad, as he is fondly called here. It was a terrific night, and I believe British horse racing and we are very aware of the public perception and the possible consequences of running over hurdles. We feel it is not fair to ask him and Nico to do it again.
"He showed on Friday night that he has another career in front of him that could possibly take us all to new playing fields. I would like to thank the thousands of Constitution Hill's supporters and admirers that have shared their sentiments with us and advice on how we should proceed, and I would have to say the poll was as near 50-50 as you could get."
Constitution Hill's non-participation at Cheltenham paves the way for an ambitious flat campaign, with Sandown's Henry II Stakes (G3) mentioned as a race in mind by Henderson, while owner Buckley expressed a desire last weekend to end up in the Melbourne Cup (G1).
However, he will still be present at Cheltenham on Champion Hurdle day to parade in front of the crowd.
Henderson said: "Cheltenham has kindly invited Constitution Hill to parade on Champion Hurdle day to give all his National Hunt supporters the opportunity to say goodbye."
