The Times
12th March 2025
Doubly disastrous but ultimately and unbelievably wondrous. Both Constitution Hill and State Man, somersaulted their way out of this Champion Hurdle leaving Lorcan Williams and Golden Ace to gallop their way to unexpected glory.
It was a day of quite extraordinary emotion and the collective gasp coming twice from 50,000 throats was the most astonishing sound ever heard at Cheltenham. It still rang through the head as State Man drew away from a clearly beaten Brighterdaysahead with only one jump to victory
The first emotion was tension as the sun lit up Cleeve Hill just as it had done for Constitution Hill’s march to glory in 2023 and you yearned for history to repeat itself. His groom Jaydon Lee led him down from the stables with the same suit and the same steady smile he had held on that occasion. Owner Michael Buckley did not have the scarf this time but the intervening 24 months with his horse have been enough to tighten any neck.
State Man had been runner up two years before taking the title last March. Disappointing results this term have meant first time cheek pieces today. “12 to 1 is a huge price for him,” says JP McManus in that soft manner of his, “a lot could happen, Brighteredaysahead is quite a mare. But so is Golden Ace. I think. it’s a race to savour.” He could. Others were too involved to touch a thing.
“I’m very nervous” says a troubled Liverpudlian voice as Constitution Hill walks into the paddock. The horse is in quite marvellous nick, a magnificent slab of hardened muscle marching round with a resolution that restores the faith. But Mattie Gill can hardly bear to look. The boy from Childwall who had never been on a horse until he went to The Racing School has graduated to become Constitution Hill’s rider of a morning. “Yes, he’s in great shape,” say Mattie, a slight figure with three days of stubble, “but I’m very nervous.” It means a lot.
It means a lot to Nico De Boinville too. You can’t see his eyes beneath the dark goggles as he canters Constitution Hill imperiously down to the start with Brighterdaysahead’s pacemaker King Of Kingsfield leading the others in respectful pursuit. But De Boinville has already landed his 50th Grade 1 by snatching the Arkle at the line. You know those eyes will be into game face time.
The race develops as you know it would. King Of Kingsfield does his duties for Brighterdaysahead with Constitution Hill powering along in third with Golden Ace outside State Man following him and the others out for place money. All is serene until the fifth hurdle when Constitution Hill repeats his last lapse here in January and this time with catastrophic cartwheeling results.
Somehow Golden Ace survived Constitution Hill rolling right beneath her and continued now just behind State Man. By the third last Brighterdaysahead cuts for home with State Man closing. He takes her on the final turn and then Golden Ace and Lorcan Williams battle past her. But State Man still looks supreme.
He and Paul Townend thunder towards us. They have five lengths on Golden Ace but the jockey is still rowing onward. He re-threads his reins, gives two cracks of the whip and pumps hard toward the hurdle. Another time another choice but at the time Ireland’s multiple champion chose to drive hard for the last three stride for a leap too long to be possible. Up came the chestnut but the forelegs met timber. Another cartwheel, another collective groan.
Golden Ace and Lorcan Williams ran through unhindered but Brighterdaysahead was all but flattened by State Man as he rolled upright and Burdett Road and Winter Fog staggered past her to pick up valuable money for second and third.
They had been the sort of falls that breed fatalities,so the first thoughts were to see if we had escaped them. State Man was up and cantered away despite his recovery collision and, happy days, Constitution sailed past, reins flapping, ears pricked requesting forgiveness for his nonsense.
This emotional journey had been tension, fall drama, last hurdle crisis, shock victor, now our fifth stage could be celebration and Cheltenham can rarely have had a better one. Lorcan Williams, the 25 year old jockey, once a potential Welsh rugby star, was having just the 10th winner of an otherwise disappointing season. The £250,000 prize for this 18th winner of trainer Jeremy Scott’s season more than doubled his total and Golden Ace is the only horse belonging to his splendidly bearded owner Ian Gosden, no relation to flat racing maestro John Gosden.
It was on Gosden (Ian not John’s) judgement that flat race bred Golden Ace was bought for just 12,000 gns. On his insistence that the mare competed in the Champion. “You have to hand it to him,” said jockey Williams, who has now won 6 races on Golden Ace including the Mares Hurdle this day last year, “and Jeremy and his team have done a great job.”
Scott is an understated man and an underrated trainer. “I’m not sure if this is a dream. It’s magic. She’s a dear horse and we’re so lucky to have her. She’s given me the best days of my life – bar my wedding of course.”
With that he suddenly whipped across to and did a series of fist pumps to where least half of Exmoor were packed against the paddock rails. In acclamatory response they chanted what at first sounded like the Glastonbury refrain for the former leader of the labour party but turned out to be – “ooh Jeremy Sco – ott.” Yes, a day of drama but much wonder too.