Last Ran: 12th March 2009

Kasbah Bliss is ready and waiting for the Festival and to prove he is indeed World Class, this French trained gelding was so impressive on his last outing at Haydock in the Blue Square Hurdle in February that it is difficult to see what will beat him this year.

Last year he had to settle for runner up, beaten by the now retired Inglis Drever, he has since improved on the flat and his return to Hurdles looks set to be a success, the ground and pace will help his cause, dare we suggest we have a great little banker here?

Punchestowns has got to be a hot prospect but whether he has what it takes to challenge Kasbah Bliss we will have to see. Trained by Nicky Henderson he was last seen coming runner up to Big Bucks here in the Cleeve Hurdle in January. However time has passed since then, Henderson will no doubt have him top notch for the big day.

Big Bucks has his supporters, he put in a classy performance when scoring in the Cleeve Hurdle, he handled the hill with relative ease, he responds well to pressure, his trainer Paul Nicholls believes he can deliver a good performance here. Certainly he deserves to be considered.

One to consider has got to be Fair Along, this seven year old just loves Cheltenham, trained by Philip Hobbs he came third in the Cleeve Hurdle and has run in the Festival on three occasions, in 2006 in the Triumph Hurdle to come runner up, in the Arkle in 2007 coming runner up and last year finished third in the Queen Mother Champion Chase, has he got what it takes to win? probably not but he looks a nice bet for a place.