Cheltenham Festival winning jockey Richard Johnson believes that Constitution Hill will be the horse to beat in the Champion Hurdle.

The eight-year-old has won all 10 of its races - nine of which have been Grade 1 contests - and 22-time winner Johnson doesn't see that record ending today.

"Constitution Hill, I think Nicky Henderson, and probably the owner, they've all had a lot of grief considering it's only less than a year since he obviously wasn't well before Cheltenham last year and they had to pull him out," Johnson said, speaking on behalf of Genting Casino.

"Everyone loved seeing Constitution Hill, he was an absolute superstar. I thought for me, at Christmas, showed he was back to nearly what he was. I'm sure he'll improve again from that run.

"He definitely showed me enough that day that he travelled, he jumped. So for me, Constitution Hill, he's the horse everyone's got to beat in the Champion Hurdle because he's shown his back to that sort of status.

"At the moment it's Constitution Hill's race to lose if that makes sense. If he turns up fit and healthy, he'll take all the beating."