Who are the Top Three Novice Hurdlers of 2021/22?

Similar to the novice chasing division, the novice hurdling division is restricted to horses that begin a National Hunt season having never won over hurdles. The 2021/22 National Hunt season was extraordinary insofar as it produced a novice hurdler who was awarded the highest rating ever in the history of Timeform. The previous highest rating for a novice, 176, was awarded to Golden Cygnet, who toyed with his rivals when winning the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle, impressively, by 15 lengths in 1978.

However, the 2022 winner of the same race, Constitution Hill, trained by Nicky Henderson, was awarded a rating of 177p after a 22-length rout of his hitherto unbeaten stable companion – and subsequent Grade 1 winner – Jonbon. Indeed, his level of superiority was such that it left Timeform handicapper Martin Rigg struggling for superlatives; eventually he settled for, ‘To be honest, I’ve never seen anything like it. He really could be anything.’

He could indeed. To put his rating in perspective, after three runs over hurdles, he is rated 12lb superior to Honeysuckle, who is 16-16 over hurdles, including the Champion Hurdle in 2021 and 2022, and already on a par with Lanzarote, who won the Champion Hurdle in 1974. With further improvement likely, it does not require a leap of faith to envisage Constitution Hill succeeding Night Nurse (182) as the highest rated hurdler in Timeform history.

In a ‘normal’ season, the second and third highest rated novice hurdlers of 2021/22, namely Sir Gerhard (152p) and Jonbon (151p) – who both fall into the ‘smart’ category, according to Timeform – would merit lengthier discussion. However, while they are both Grade 1 winners, their achievements pale almost, if not entirely, into insignificance when compared with Constitution Hill.