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MRI scan reveals Nicky Henderson's stable star to be suffering from bruising on his pastern.

Nicky Henderson provided an update on Constitution Hill, who may not be ready to contest the Christmas Hurdle at Kempton on Boxing Day.

Yesterday Henderson revealed Constitution Hill would 'unlikely' make his eagerly-awaited reappearance in the Fighting Fifth at Newcastle on Saturday when confirming his star hurdler was lame.

The 2022 Champion Hurdle star has subsequently undergone a whole host of medical tests, with the results indicating that bruising on his pastern was touching a nerve.

Speaking on ITV Racing, Henderson explained: "He had a long day yesterday, starting with x-rays which showed nothing which you have to be pleased about. You do wonder if there might be a chip or something in a knee or fetlock, but there was nothing to see anywhere.

"He had an ultrasound then an MRI and the MRI scan has revealed there's a bit of bruising in the pastern. There was a tiny little mark in there and it appears on the MRI that it's touching a nerve. No part of the mechanism is injured at all, there's no damage to anything, no tendons or ligaments are affected, nothing is fractured but he is still lame.

"He was remarkably better by Friday evening, but it is touching a nerve. I don't know much about these things. Dave Matterson, our vet who has been treating him, says he's never seen it in 40 years of practising as a vet."

With a trip to Newcastle for the Fighting Fifth now completely off the cards, Henderson will face a race against time to get Michael Buckley's Champion Hurdle hero ready in time for the Christmas Hurdle at Kempton.

Henderson added: "The obvious question for them was how long is this going to take? Dave's opinion to me this morning was to say there's a maximum and a minimum. Maximum he said was three weeks which would not get us to Kempton for the Christmas Hurdle. The minimum might be three days but there's nothing you can do; you can't hurry it up."