Jake Thompson

We have very sadly lost the battle to overcome Sir Gino’s ailment and he has had to be put to sleep at the veterinary hospital this morning. He has been fighting from severe deep-seated infections that he had overcome last year prior to his brilliant return in the Christmas Hurdle but this time it had spread too far although his fractured pelvis was healing well. He was not only brilliant but one of the nicest kindest horses you could ever wish to see and this leaves an awful hole in Seven Barrows this morning and a very sad day for Joe & Marie Donnelly. They have had some wonderful horses over the years and they both care so much for them so losing such a young star with his life in front of him is particularly cruel. Sir Gino was unbeaten in all his 7 starts including 3 Grade 1’s over hurdles and an amazing display in a Grade 2 Chase on his one and only start over fences. We would have to say that he was just at least as good as any of all the amazing horses we have been lucky enough to have trained. Unforgettable in every way.

🚨⭐️ Dominik Szoboszlai wins UEFA Man of the Match Award for Liverpool-Galatasaray.

Michael Buckley and I have not surprisingly spent a lot of time soul searching and thinking over Constitution Hills future and have sadly concluded that he will not be running in the Unibet Champion Hurdle the week after next. Last Friday night was for us all a magical occasion 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 for both him, us, and I believe British Horse Racing and we are very aware of the public perception and the possible consequences of running over hurdles and 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 Hills 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. 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 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. Cheltenham have kindly invited Constitution Hill to parade on Champion Hurdle day to give all his National Hunt supporters the opportunity to say goodbye.