Plenty – maybe too much – has been said already on the subject of Constitution Hill and whether or not he will run in the Champion Hurdle in a fortnight's time.While we all have our opinions, it is most important now to respect the decision either way of the horse's owner Michael Buckley and trainer Nicky Henderson. What has become patently clear from their interviews on Friday and over the weekend is how much they feel the weight of responsibility when it comes to doing what is right for Constitution Hill and for racing.Whatever happens this year, he has already provided racing fans with a proper feelgood moment just by appearing at Southwell last Friday evening, never mind the jaw-dropping manner in which he won. The prospect of his future participation in middle-distance and staying races on the Flat is something to relish and will add a real spark to the turf season ahead, at home in Britain and internationally.It has been a little disheartening lately to hear of the plans for disco tents [the very use of that phrase will tell you the vintage of this writer], speed dating and the like in a bid to attract young racegoers. There is no doubt that we want young people to come to the races, but wouldn't it be preferable for them to come to watch, enjoy and learn about the sport that takes place at racecourses, rather than being distracted by noisy sideshows? At what stage does the Invades movement become an invasion?If Friday night proved anything – apart from the fact that Constitution Hill can easily reinvent himself as a star of the Flat – then it is that this game is only ever really about the horse. What incredible scenes those were at Southwell, and, with respect, it wasn't for the opportunity to go on a blind date with Oisin Murphy. The people came, in numbers way beyond those usually seen at Southwell, to pay homage to a great horse, and Constitution Hill gave them a night they will not forget in a hurry. So, Epsom, let's hear a little less of the unappealing plan to have an 'Ibiza beach vibe' throughout the racing on Derby Day. Instead, how about focusing on your efforts on persuading Messrs Buckley and Henderson to run their great horse in the £1m Coolmore Coronation Cup? That's the way to encourage the masses to return to Epsom Downs on the first Saturday in June.Farewell to Reliable ManLast week came the news that the 2011 Prix du Jockey Club winner Reliable Man (Dalakhani) had been euthanised in New Zealand owing to complications following surgery to remove some melanomas.The 18-year-old stallion was understandably a source of great pride to his Swedish owner-breeders Sven and Carina Hanson. He initially won four of his 12 starts in Europe and Canada when trained in France by Alain de Royer Dupre, who had also masterminded the career of the Hansons' great homebred mare Pride (Peintre Celebre). To those victories, which included the the Jockey Club and the G2 Prix Niel, he later added a Group 1 strike down under in the Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Randwick after being transferred to Chris Waller and racing for a partnership with included the Hansons under their Fair Salinia Ltd banner.That moniker drops a large clue as to Reliable Man's lineage. His granddam was Sven Hanson's dual Classic winner Fair Salinia (Petingo), who, in 1978, gave Sir Michael Stoute his first victory in the Oaks before also claiming the Irish Oaks in the stewards' room on the disqualification of first-past-the-post Sorbus. She later beat that same filly in the Yorkshire Oaks. The mare's seven winners at stud included the Group 3 winners Perfect Circle (Caerleon) and Perfect Vintage (Shirley Heights) as well as On Fair Stage (Sadler's Wells), a Listed winner over a mile who later became the dam of Reliable Man. Reliable Man at Gestut Rottgen | Emma Berry In fact, On Fair Stage was unintentionally an accomplished dual-purpose broodmare, with her son French Opera (Bering) enjoying a lengthy career with Nicky Henderson, for whom his 46 National Hunt starts included victory in the G2 Celebration Chase and G2 Game Spirit Chase. Another half-brother, I'm Imposing (Danehill Dancer), won Group 2 and 3 races in Sydney for Waller while Gale Force (Sinndar) was a Listed winner in France.There's no doubt that Reliable Man was the star of the brood, however, and he went on to stand in both Germany and France, as well as at Westbury Stud in New Zealand, where he died.One of 10 Group 1 winners for Dalakhani, Reliable Man remained a useful conduit for the dwindling Mill Reef-line, which has now slowed to a mere trickle following the death of Lord Of England in 2021 and the retirement of Sir Percy two years later. Lord Of England's Deutsches Derby-winning son Isfahan remains at Gestut Ohlerweiherhof and there is some hope that Prince Faisal will eventually stand his Group 2 winner Eydon, a son of his homebred Olden Times (Darshaan).It is fair to say that Reliable Man enjoyed greater success as a stallion in the southern hemisphere. Three of his four Group 1 winners came in Australia and New Zealand, but to his VRC Oaks winner Miami Bound and New Zealand Oaks winner Miss Sentimental, we can add the German Oaks winner Erle, who, appropriately raced in the colours of her breeder Gestut Rottgen, which was home to Reliable Man for six years.Heating upAmo Racing will be hoping for a big season for its burgeoning team and it was hard not to be impressed by the winning debut on Saturday for Sin City (Too Darn Hot) in the mile maiden at Lingfield. The Kevin Philippart de Foy-trained colt, who has an Irish 2,000 Guineas entry, was a 200,000gns Tattersalls October Book 1 purchase from his breeder Rabbah Bloodstock, held off fellow debutant and Shadwell homebred El Nay (Palace Pier), the pair having pulled more than seven lengths clear of third-placed Ghaiyyath Deer (Ghaiyyath).It was a decent day for Too Darn Hot, who had earlier notched a fifth Group 1 winner when Tropicus won the Oakleigh Plate at Caulfield. Even better news is that the stallion's leading daughter, the five-time Group 1 winner Fallen Angel, remains in training at the age of five for Wathnan Racing.Benbatl poised to make his nameWith Dubawi a past champion sire in Britain and Ireland and his son Night Of Thunder the reigning champion, it will be interesting to keep an eye on the progress of another of Dubawi's sons, Benbatl, in Japan. Early signs are encouraging.Benbatl, who is out of the dual Group 1 winner Nahrain (Selkirk) and thus a half-brother to the 2024 1,000 Guineas winner Elmalka (Kingman), was no slouch himself. Fifth in the Derby won by Wings Of Eagles, he later won Group 1 contests in Dubai, Germany and Australia. By the time of his retirement at the age of seven, his ten stakes victories included five at Group 2 level. That hardiness combined with a top-drawer pedigree was doubtless a major part of his appeal to the Japanese market and off he went to Big Red Farm to start his stud career in 2022.Benbatl has not been overrun with mares to cover. His first crop of foals numbered 74, and he had 82 in 2023 and 67 the following year. His 13 individual winners from that first crop last season put him in fifth position in Japan's first-season sires' table, and this year has seen him pick up where he left off. On Saturday, his son Large Ensemble won the Listed Sumire Stakes at Hanshin, beating Aurum Ares (Harbinger), who had finished fourth in the G1 Hopeful Stakes in December. On the same card, the Benbatl filly Femme Courageuse built on a promising maiden win on the Japan Cup undercard in November by winning the Freesia Sho over 2,000m. Along with the Erica Sho winner Coronado Bridge, who is bred on the same Benbatl-Deep Impact cross as Femme Courageuse, the stallion is steadily compiling a a team of Classic hopefuls from his first crop. Watch this space.Gousserie Racing doubles up by the seaThe yellow and green silks of the Chehboub family's Gousserie Racing dominated the two Listed contests at Cagnes-sur-Mer on Sunday. Old favourite Horizon Dore (Dabirsim), now six, followed up the victory of his three-year-old full-brother Safran Dore just 24 hours earlier at the same track, holding off his owners' other runner Tipinso (Pinatubo) for a one-two in the not-very-snappily titled Westminster – DP du Departement 06 – Defi du Galop 2026 – Georges Camprubi.Now, if you nodded off during the reading of that race name, let's have you back to tell you that the Chehboubs' stallion Stunning Spirit sired his first stakes winner in the three-year-old filly Baklawa, who sprang something of a surprise in the Prix de la Californie. Stunning Spirit's first stakes winner Baklawa | Scoop Dyga Her victory was doubtless a proud moment on a memorable day for Kamel and Pauline Chehboub as not only was Baklawa bred in the first wave of horses at Haras de Beaumont after they purchased the stud back in 2022 but her sire, dam Aksil, and broodmare sire Spirit One have all raced in those same family colours. The latter beat Archipenko to win the GI Arlington Million back in 2008, while Stunning Spirit, who has now moved to Haras du Mazet after three years at Beaumont, won the G3 Prix de Quincey. The post Seven Days: It’s All About The Horse appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.