Cheltenham

A somewhat depleted Champion Hurdle with Sir Gino, Constitution Hill and State Man ruled out in advance due to various woes. However, it's still quite a deep field with some familiar names remaining and some unexposed/progressive types adding interest. The New Lion (second pick) is in a strong position to become the new champion, being unbeaten in completed starts and still promising after just two attempts in open company. However, PONIROS looks a plausible alternative with his own ceiling not yet established. It takes some doing to land the Triumph on a first attempt over hurdles and the selection, who has raced only three times under this code, appears open to any amount of further improvement back at the Cheltenham Festival with the post-layoff DRF run under his belt. Lossiemouth, Brighterdaysahead and last year's (admittedly lucky) winner Golden Ace constitute a strong female hand, preferred in that order.[Steve Boow]