Marten Julian’s Weekly Roundup 1 December 2025

Hi there

It is said that everybody is entitled to an opinion, but in certain areas of expertise I would suggest that not everybody’s opinion should carry equal weight.

For example the majority of media pundits have never ridden a racehorse, let alone in a race, yet they pontificate with authority on how well a horse is travelling.

Yet this is an opinion they come to more on the body language of the jockey than the horse. For example Ruby Walsh’s quiet style of riding gave the impression that his mount was travelling comfortably, yet that was not always the case. The same comment could apply to Jamie Spencer on the flat.

It takes an insight honed on experience to discern how well a horse is actually travelling … its head carriage, changing of legs, its gait and other signals.

Well I believe the same thinking applies to the current drama … and that’s not too strong a word … over Constitution Hill.

I have a view on this, but as someone who fell off on the only occasion I’ve ridden a thoroughbred, I suggest that it should carry minimal weight.

I will, though, share it.

In brief, Ronnie O’Sullivan attributed a recent poor run of form to his not having acquired the basic principles of snooker in his formative years due to his natural talent. I was told something similar about the cricketer Ted Dexter, former captain of Sussex and England. They both found the game too easy.

I wrote an email to Nicky Henderson in the spring wondering if this may have applied to Constitution Hill. Not that the Seven Barrows team were negligent in their training routine, but that mentally the horse might never have had to focus on the rudiments of jumping because it came so naturally to him.

This brilliant hurdler was actually taking chances at a few of the hurdles before his Champion Hurdle fall … notably the last flight of the International Hurdle in January.

The best hurdlers flick through the top of the hurdles … Istabraq fell twice at the end of his career … but in the case of Constitution Hill we have to also consider his mulish display at Punchestown in May.

The game these days is as much about the public perception as the reality, and I would be very surprised if the trainer and owner don’t have the well-being of the horse and the clamour that would result from another mishap, or more serious outcome, uppermost in mind.

I am told that horses sometimes are never the same after a bout of colic, which can be excruciatingly painful and leave a lasting impression. Since that procedure in March 2024, and his wind surgery, he has not had to be at his best to win at Kempton and Cheltenham and then the three falls and Punchestown.

The decision on his future may have been reached by the time you read this, but with an industry that only seems to permeate the consciousness of the general public at times of drama or perceived malpractice, the risks of asking this horse to jump another obstacle in public far outweigh the benefits.

Bye for now

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