While this year’s renewal of the Aintree Hurdle at the respected Grand National Festival is yet to even take place in Merseyside, the Jockey Club might as well start engraving the trophy awarded to the winner of the two-mile, four-furlong affair now — as there’s only going to be one victor of the Grade 1 contest on April 13.

We are, of course, talking about the machine that is Constitution Hill. The Nicky Henderson-trained beast is as short as 1/4 in the Aintree Hurdle betting, with his nearest rival in the market set to be Zanahiyr at 8/1 as the freakish six-year-old looks to become a six-time Grade 1 winner in what is incredibly just his seventh start under rules.

Speculation is already rife ahead of what owner Michael Buckley and Henderson will do with Constitution Hill next season, with a shot of becoming just the second horse to complete the Champion Hurdle/Gold Cup double a real possibility.

However, instead of trying to guess what the connections are going to do in the future, let’s focus on the here and now as Constitution Hill is bound to add his name to the Aintree Hurdle roll of honour. That said, read on as we take a look at some of the horses who have done so in recent renewals of the race.

2022: Epatante

While Epatante has certainly had a good career, earning connections over £740,000 in prize money, the mare could have had a stellar one had Honeysuckle and Constitution Hill not come along and dominated the hurdling division.

The now nine-year-old won the Champion Hurdle in 2020, but has played the role as best of the rest to those aforementioned stars since. She has picked up some big wins when Honeysuckle hasn’t been around though, like two Fighting Fifths, the Christmas Hurdle and the Aintree Hurdle.

Epatante landed Henderson his fifth Aintree Hurdle when winning the race by 14 lengths from Monmiral last April and the veteran trainer will overtake Toby Balding as the race’s most successful handler when Constitution Hill wins this month. Already a distant second to her stablemate twice this season, the mare looks set to give up her title and head to Punchestown instead.

2021: Abacadabras

Another horse who has had to face stiff competition in the form of Shishkin, Sharjah, Honeysuckle and Envoi Allen, Abacadabras landed what was the biggest win of his career in the 2021 renewal of the Aintree Hurdle at the behind-closed-doors Grand National Festival.

Under the watchful eye of Denise Foster as trainer Gordon Elliott was serving his ban after a controversial image emerged on social media, the Gigginstown House Stud-owned horse headed to Merseyside as a 5/1 chance for this after falling in the Champion Hurdle.

However, the then seven-year-old managed to win by little over a length from 22/1 outsider Buzz for Henderson despite a less than fluent run.

2019: Supasundae

With 2020’s Grand National Festival called off after the Cheltenham Festival controversially went ahead despite the growing presence of Covid-19 in the United Kingdom, you have to go back to 2019 for the third latest winner of the Aintree Hurdle.

And it was Jessica Harrington’s Supasundae who put an end to Henderson’s hat-trick hopes after Buveur d’Air and L’AmiSerge won the race for the Seven Barrows trainer back-to-back in 2017 and 2018 respectively.

The aforementioned Buveur d’Air was the odds-on favourite to regain the Aintree Hurdle title, but 15/2 chance Supasundaeled three out and stayed on gamely down the stretch to win by little more than a length from the eight-year-old.