"This is probably not what we were hoping for, but at least it tells us exactly where we are."

Constitution Hill's chances of lining up to defend his Champion Hurdle crown at Cheltenham in two weeks seemingly suffered another setback after trainer Nicky Henderson confirmed his blood test results were "probably not what we were hoping for."

Although the Seven Barrows-handler reported his stable star to be "quite bright and alert" when speaking to Sky Sports Racing on Thursday morning, blood test results received later that day have seemingly cast further doubt over his Festival participation.

A disappointing racecourse gallop from last year's Cheltenham hero, after which he was found to have scoped dirty, sent the Champion Hurdle market into disarray on Tuesday morning and left connections of the seven-year-old in a race against time to prepare their charge for the opening day showpiece in a fortnight's time.

The Michael Buckley-owned unbeaten hurdler participated in a light exercise on Thursday morning, but blood test results show the reigning champion has 'a significant degree of inflammation.'

In another update posted on X (formerly Twitter), for which the media are hugely grateful, Henderson said: "The result of the blood test taken this morning goes quite a long way to explaining his disappointing performance at Kempton on Tuesday and confirms that he has a significant degree of inflammation.

"The figures themselves suggest he is definitely under the weather, and we will need to repeat the test again on Monday in the hope that the situation improves.

"We intend to scope him again tomorrow morning, but it appears that the blood test is a more conclusive barometer and the one we need to concentrate on.

"This is probably not what we were hoping for, but at least it tells us exactly where we are."

As a result, Paddy Power now makes State Man their 1/2 favourite in the non-runner money-back Champion Hurdle market, with the Nicky Henderson-trained reigning champ 8/11 to defend his crown.