A field of 13 have been declared for the Stayers’ Hurdle, the feature race on Thursday of the Cheltenham Festival. They include defending champion Sire Du Berlais is among them, looking to become the first 12-year-old to win the race and the second oldest winner in the race’s history overall.
His trainer Gordon Elliott is also responsible for the favourite for the race, last year’s third Teahupoo. He has been the ante-post market leader since winning his second successive Grade 1 Hatton’s Grace Hurdle at Fairyhouse in December and has been kept fresh for a tilt at this contest since.
Two other former winners are back to try and regain their crown. Paisley Park took this as a sprightly seven-year-old back in 2019 and has contested it every year since, placing in both 2021 and 2022, the years in which Flooring Porter won back-to-back renewals. Gavin Cromwell’s charge has been campaigned as a novice chaser to this point this season after only finishing fourth in this race last year.
Plenty of prospective runners are of significant intrigue. 2022 Grand National winner and recent Cleeve Hurdle champion Noble Yeats is guaranteed to stay and could well take high order in this race on the way back to Aintree. Long Walk Hurdle winner Crambo could also seek to give Fergal O’Brien a first Cheltenham Festival winner and looks the best of the British.