AS with the Champion Hurdle, the Ryanair sees a defending champion arriving at the top of his game, but Un De Sceaux is probably a lot more vulnerable than Buveur D’Air despite winning the Clarence House Chase at Ascot in his final prep run.

There was very little wrong with that performance, and favourite backers will point to the fact that the former tearaway looked more relaxed than has been the case there. He initially settled in behind runners in last year’s Ryanair, but soon got bored of being obedient and carted Ruby Walsh to the front after a couple of fences.

What followed was a textbook example of how to get the best out of a hard puller without fighting him, and Ruby deserves great praise for not trying to restrain his mount while still getting him to keep enough in reserve to win. It most certainly wasn’t straightforward, or easy, and this year’s opposition will not prove as supine, I fear.

Waiting Patiently’s connections are loath to throw him into the crucible in his formative year, and Balko Des Flos is short on balance of form, so the eye keeps coming back to Cue Card.

All the stats will tell you that the dual Festival hero cannot win on what would probably be his swansong, but his second to Waiting Patiently at Ascot is arguably better form than Un De Sceaux’s win there, and he seems at his best when given an attacking ride at this trip or slightly further. He could certainly throw a spanner in the works if those tactics are employed.

If the big guns get in a duel, that could set the race up nicely for Frodon to take advantage, and Paul Nicholls’s chaser is a notably sound jumper at pace. He was arguably flattered by his margin of victory in a handicap here in January, but jumped impeccably around the inside, and is the perfect foil for the fearless Bryony Frost.

Frost cannot claim in this Grade 1 race, but that isn’t lost on the layers, and he’s a juicy price in a race which could fall apart.

VERDICT

It’s stretching things to say that Frodon has an outstanding chance on form, but he’s utterly reliable and his quicksilver jumping will stand him in good stead in a winnable race. With a certain vulnerability about the market leaders, he’s got the wherewithal to punish any mistakes, tactical or otherwise.

1 Frodon 2 Cue Card 3 Un De Sceaux