Champ heads a small but competitive field of five for the Welsh Marches Stallions At Chapel Stud Cleeve Hurdle at Cheltenham.
The 10-year-old reverted to hurdles at Ascot in December, landing the Grade One Long Walk by a length and a quarter under Jonjo O’Neill Jr.
Prior to that Champ was a winner at the top level over fences also, taking the Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase at the 2020 Cheltenham Festival before returning to the same meeting the following year when pulled up in the Gold Cup.
The Ascot victory inspired another outing over hurdles at Cheltenham with O’Neill, who enjoyed his first Grade One victory in the Long Walk, retaining the ride.
Both the Stayers’ Hurdle and the Gold Cup are on the table come the Festival in March, and Nicky Henderson will be a step closer to a decision after Saturday.
“Everything has gone well since Ascot. I couldn’t be happier,” he said.
“Here we go again – this will tell us where we all are. Where we go, I don’t know. It is not a big field, but they are select and he has got to go and do it again.”
Paul Nicholls is represented in the race by McFabulous, who returns to Prestbury Park after finishing second in the Relkeel Hurdle on New Year’s Day – a race he was the winner of last season.
The Cleeve represents a step up in trip for the eight-year-old, who was largely been campaigned over lesser distances to date.
“He ran a tidy enough race in the Relkeel. He stayed on strongly and he wants three miles now,” said Nicholls.
“I was pleased to see that he jumped and travelled well on his comeback. He didn’t have the greatest run down to the last, but he flew up the hill and he quite obviously needs a bit further.
“They don’t normally need a run but we had been rushing him because he had a problem, so the run would have brought him on.”
Dry conditions and subsequent good ground has tempted Nicholls to run McFabulous in the Cleeve, with a graduation to chasing postponed after a setback last year delayed his start to the season.
“The big thing about this weekend is that I probably wouldn’t run him in the Cleeve, but it is a dry forecast and that ground will suit him,” he said.
“He had a setback early in the season which held me back a bit, but hopefully he will give a good account of himself. We thought it is a bit late to go chasing so let’s go down this route and it will tell us where we go afterwards.
“All in all, I’d like to think we have got a nice chance. He could be a nice each-way price for the Stayers’ Hurdle, but let’s see how he runs on Saturday.”
Paisley Park currently holds the Cleeve Hurdle title and returns to the race to bid for a record-equalling treble, something only previously achieved by Venetia Williams’ Lady Rebecca.
Lavelle’s gelding won the contest in both 2019 and 2020, but his shot at a third victory last season was scuppered when the whole Cheltenham Trials Day card was lost due to waterlogging.
By contrast this January has been notably dry and the going is likely to be good as a result, conditions not favoured by Paisley Park as much of his best form has been on softer going.
“He’s been brilliant, he’s doing everything we want him to be doing and he seems in really good order,” she said.
“I suppose my biggest disappointment is the lack of rain, but that’s the bit that’s out of my control. It just makes his life a little bit easier when the ground is a bit softer but I couldn’t be happier with how he is.
“His last run was definitely a big step back in the right direction, he galloped all the way to the line. He loves Cheltenham and this race has been good to us, obviously he’s going to have to turn the form around with Champ, there are five runners but it’s going to be a competitive race – it always is.”
Also involved is Rebecca Curtis’ 2020 Stayers’ Hurdle hero Lisnagar Oscar, who was pulled up in the Long Walk on his last outing but has produced much of his best form around Prestbury Park.
Completing the field of five is Fergal O’Brien’s Dandy Mag, a former chaser who made his debut for the trainer when pulling up at Wincanton on Boxing Day after switching from Willie Mullins’ yard.
Henderson wary of Hillcrest as Balco Coastal steps up
Ballymore Novices' Hurdle (Registered As The Classic Novices' Hurdle) (Grade 2)
Hillcrest is “going to be a very hard horse to beat” in the Ballymore Novices’ Hurdle at Cheltenham on Saturday, according to Nicky Henderson.
The Seven Barrows handler saddles Balco Coastal, who is in receipt of 5lb – but Henderson insists Henry Daly’s seven-year-old is the one to aim at in the six-runner field for the extended two-and-a-half-mile test.
Balco Coastal has won two novice hurdles this term – both over two miles, at Huntingdon and Ludlow – but is pitched into Grade Two company for the first time in the race registered as the Classic Novices’ Hurdle.
“He is taking a bit of a jump, but his form is very respectable,” said Henderson.
“He has beaten two horses (Extraordinary Man and Frere D’Armes) and beaten them well, but they have both come out and won well subsequently.
“Yes, it is a big step into a Grade Two. I was thinking that Henry Daly was going to go to Doncaster over three miles for the River Don, but I can see why he has changed his mind.”
He went on: “Hillcrest is going to be a very hard horse to beat. We know what he is, because I Am Maximus (trained by Henderson) jumped the last with him last time, but we are going to have another crack with a horse I like a lot.
“Balco Coastal does everything well. He has so far, anyway, so here we go. He is an improving young horse and he needs this test – and he is ready for it.”
Hillcrest has won three novice hurdles this term and is proven over course and distance, having landed the Listed Ballymore Novices’ Hurdle by two lengths from I Am Maximus on New Year’s Day.
Daly is hopeful that he can deliver again but has slight concerns about the drying ground.
He said: “I hope he has a favourite’s chance. Obviously, I would like the ground to be a little bit softer from a safety angle for want of a better way of putting it.
“But he has won his bumper on ground at Wetherby which they said was good to soft, but it wasn’t, so I’m not particularly alarmed by the ground.
“It is a tough race, but that’s how it should be.”
A Different Kind comes into this with an unblemished record, having backed up two bumper wins with a trio of successes over hurdles for Donald McCain.
However, the Dene Rowe-owned five-year-old is taking a big step up in class following his 11-length win at Catterick last time out.
“He had to go up in grade at some point and the ground won’t bother him,” insisted McCain.
“Obviously, I have huge respect for Hillcrest, but it is time we stepped up and see where we are, because what happens now will tell us where we are going for the rest of the year.
“It is a Grade Two, and Hillcrest is the obvious one to beat, but when you go there with a horse who has won five out of five, we have to go and take a punt somewhere.”
North Lodge, who scored at Aintree on his hurdling bow for Alan King, and Picanha, who took a Warwick maiden hurdle for Richard Phillips, are similarly last-time-out winners in the line-up.
The only one of the sextet who did not register a win last time is Harpers Brook, who finished fourth in a Grade Two contest over two and a half miles at Sandown.
His trainer, Ben Pauling, said: “He had form with Hillcrest in a Wetherby bumper last year but he wasn’t right at all after the race and he had a dirty scope.
“I was obviously thrilled with him at Carlisle on his seasonal return, and then a bit underwhelmed with him at Sandown – I just don’t think he was right on the day, but I don’t know quite why.
“We think a lot of him and hope he is a really smart horse for the future.
“I think he would be better on the wetter ground, but he is not going to get that. As long as it is safe, we’ll have a look.”
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