KETCHUM DRIFTS FOR WORLD HURDLE

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Black Jack Ketchum - doesn't like heavy ground.

By Tom Peacock, PA Sport

Black Jack Ketchum has now been eased out to 7-4 to win the Ladbrokes World Hurdle after trainer Jonjo O'Neill revealed he could be pulled out if the ground at Cheltenham remains heavy.

Last month's Byrne Bros Cleeve Hurdle at the track, run on heavy ground, was the scene of the gelding's first ever racecourse defeat when he was a lifeless fifth behind Blazing Bailey.

O'Neill was unable to find anything medically or physically wrong with Black Jack Ketchum, and with the ground currently soft on the Old Course and soft, heavy in places on the New, he is definitely hoping for things to dry up.

"If the ground was like this he won't run," said O'Neill at a Cheltenham media gathering.

"We wouldn't punish him in bad ground. We would love to come here, we want to come here, but it is not the end of the world and there is always Aintree and Punchestown."

And this news has prompted the sponsors to move his odds out to 7-4 while they have also seen support for 2005 World Hurdle hero Inglis Drever (4s from 9-2), Adrian Maguire's Celestial Wave (9s from 10-1) and Nicky Henderson's Temoin (20s from 25-1), all proven soft-ground performers.

David Williams, spokesman for Ladbrokes, said: "We still firmly believe that Black Jack is the class act in the race, but all the vibes from the racecourse suggest it could be softer than than we all expected.

"He clearly didn't enjoy conditions last time out and all the recent money has been for the proven soft ground specialists. We've had to shorten them up accordingly."

Ladbrokes World Hurdle; sponsors bet: 7-4 Black Jack Ketchum, 4-1 Inglis Drever, 5-1 Mighty Man, 8-1 Asian Maze, Blazing Bailey, 9-1 Celestial Wave, 16-1 Kasbah Bliss, 20-1 Temoin, 25-1 United, 33-1 Flight Leader, Labelthou, Millennium Royal, 40-1 Al Eile, Lord Sam, Lough Derg, Overstrand, 50-1 bar.