Irish raiders target Champion en masse

Irish-trained runners dominate the entries for this year's Smurfit Kappa Champion Hurdle at Cheltenham with 21 of the 34 possibles based in Ireland.

Having dominated the hurdling championship in the last decade with Hardy Eustace, Brave Inca and Macs Joy, no horse from Ireland has made the frame in the last two renewals.

This year the likes of Solwhit, Go Native, who is chasing a £1million bonus, and former winner Sublimity will aim to wrestle back the title on 16 March.

Others engaged include Colm Murphy's Voler La Vedette and Go Native's stablemate Donnas Palm.

Exciting novice Dunguib, Al Eile, Quevega, Noble Prince and the currently sidelined Hurricane Fly are other Irish possibles.

However, Willie Mullins has not entered Mikael D'Haguenet.

Heading up the British defence is Nicky Henderson's trio of the unbeaten Zaynar, last year's winner Punjabi and third Binocular.

Binocular is owned by JP McManus, who won the race for three consecutive years with the brilliant Istabraq.

While he has been slightly below par this season, Binocular will be looking to get back on the winning trail at Sandown next month.

‘Binocular is still on course for the Contenders Hurdle at Sandown on February 6 and Nicky is very happy with him at the moment,’ said McManus' racing manager Frank Berry.

‘He came out of the Christmas Hurdle in good shape and I thought he ran a cracker there - he wasn't beaten too far and it was a much better performance than Newcastle.

‘We didn't have any real excuses at Kempton so he has a little to find on Go Native on the formbook.

‘We will get Sandown out of the way before focusing on the Festival, but he looks in good form at the moment and we couldn't be happier with him.’

McManus has also entered Rock Noir, a French import now in training with Jonjo O'Neill.

‘Rock Noir hasn't been back in training for very long and we would need to get a run into him before Cheltenham before deciding whether to go for the Champion Hurdle,’ Berry added.

‘He has settled in well at Jonjo's but we haven't got any firm plans for him at the minute.

‘His form in France is very good and it will be interesting to see how he stacks up against the English horses when he does run.’

Last year's runner-up Celestial Halo and American Trilogy could represent Paul Nicholls, while former winner Katchit and last year's Supreme Novices' runner-up Medermit are Alan King's entries.

Christmas Hurdle runner-up Starluck and Boylesports International winner Khyber Kim are others for the home team.