The day I received the keys to Constitution Hill

A high-performance sports car wrapped itself around an unlit lamppost on Park Lane in London in the late 1990s. It had been given by a local garage to a tea boy to deliver to customer. The result of the poor boy’s first gear change was a twisted wreck.

This was the lesson I found this fall. It is a salutary lesson about what can happen when you trust the incompetent to do something quickly. After a 20-year hiatus, I decided to return to racing racehorses after a long break.

Sir Winston Churchill once stated that the outside is more important than the inside. It is better for him to be with horses galloping than to be stuck at traffic lights during school runs. After a 20-year amateur rider career, Nicky Henderson’s first ride was not by his choice, but rather at the insistence of his owner. As it was also his last ride, he was clearly affected. There were still a lot of freshmen, so I volunteered for the second bunch on September 2nd.

Charlie Morlock, Charlie Morlock’s right-handman, stated, “Constitution Hill, you can ride it.” Although my kids may think otherwise, I am not ignorant. I won’t have to ride a horse that is already in top class and who will be my long-favorite for the Ladbrokes Christmas Hurdle at Kempton.

“What’s it actually called?” Two boys asked me on my way to Constitution Hill the name of the horse. They agreed to “Conrad” and I made a mental note of it to look up Conrad’s name next. She said that the constitution hill was on the door. It was Mayfair’s main square, but it was near Hammersmith. It was clear to me that this was twice Churchill’s war, and I was sure it was in The Eagle Has Landed.

If stingers come along—as they inevitably are in a Dick Francis novel—they may take the likeness but not the real thing. Conrad was lazy on the inside ride. He was lying in a walking race and the only way to stop the string from piling up behind was to cut corners. Conrad had been humble thus far. His trainer joined in on the hilarious act by making some sharp comments regarding Constitution Hill and Junpon, his old sparring partner. They were even pulling at the wool. I thought, “Play with it”. Our ability to jump “three and six” on the round Wexford Sand Run was documented for approximately a furlong-and-a-half, with three left handed turns and six right handed. It is only six inches deep in summer.

It’s hard work for horses, and for someone who hasn’t ridden in a while, six laps can be a sweaty labor. It’s like holding a plank for five mins in a sauna. It did a light job floating on top of sand, regardless of who I was riding, Constitution Hill or Conrad. He was a nice horse, no matter who he was.