Mambonumberfive danced his way to success in the Adonis Hurdle last year but trainer Ben Pauling is not represented here so we need to look elsewhere.
Paul Nicholls and Alan King have won this three times each in the last decade and only Paul is represented here with Falls Of Acharn, a winner on his hurdling bow at Musselburgh and a four length last of six at the same track last time out.
He clearly needs to do better than that to win this and you can see why Dan Skelton’s Precious Man trades a fraction of odds-on after winning here by over four lengths on his first start following wind-surgery. He should win this to be fair, but where is the fun in that, and I’ll risk a quid or two on Fantasy World at a big price instead.
Nicky Henderson’s four-year-old was sent off at silly odds (30/100) at Musselburgh last week before finishing a bitterly disappointing fourth after weakening two out, but it’s a big surprise to see him sent back to the track this quickly. Nicky clearly wants to get experience into him and after costing 600,000gns at the sales from Andrew Balding as a Listed winner rated 103 in the Flat, he needs to start paying connections back and a win here would be a start.
Daily Sport Recommended Bet 1pt Win Fantasy World 1.45pm Kempton 7/1 most bookmakers