24 Confirmations for Champion Hurdle

Steven Smith - 6 Mar 2009

Binocular heads the 24 acceptors for the highlight of day one, the £370,000 Smurfit Kappa Champion Hurdle (3.20pm). The Nicky Henderson-trained five-year-old is chasing a £200,000 bonus offered by Irish bookmakers Boylesports.

However, Binocular (8/5 Sportingbet) is set to face some stiff opposition, with four previous winners of the race also among the acceptors - the 2004 and 2005 scorer Hardy Eustace (125/1 Sportingbet), 2006 victor Brave Inca (33/1 Bet365), the 2007 winner Sublimity (20/1 totesport) and triumphant 12 months ago Katchit (16/1 Stan James).

Other leading contenders include last year’s JCB Triumph Hurdle winner Celestial Halo (10/1 Ladbrokes), who is aiming to give champion trainer Paul Nicholls his first Smurfit Kappa Champion Hurdle success. Another Festival winner from 2008 out to record a second success at Jump racing’s greatest event is Crack Away Jack (14/1 William Hill), successful in the Fred Winter Juvenile Novices’ Hurdle last year.





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