NIGEL Twiston-Davies welcomed members of the press to his rain-lashed yard at Naunton on Thursday with an upbeat bulletin on the well-being of stable star The New One ahead of the Stan James Champion Hurdle.

The second favourite had been the subject of internet rumour overnight, but allayed such fears by appearing at the head of a small string who worked for the cameras.

“It’s nerve wracking - you always hope everything goes smooth, and at the moment it is. He’s 100%, and the pressure’s totally off, because everyone’s talking about Faugheen.

“It’s a bit like two years ago, when they said The New One couldn’t possibly beat Pont Alexandre, but he did, and it was the same when we beat Denman and Kauto Star won the Gold Cup, and it’s nice that way. My worst day was when Imperial Commander was favourite and it all went wrong. It’s much nicer this way.

“The New One has done brilliantly this season. He and Faugheen haven’t been racing against championship horses, they have been beating also-rans very well - the one who sticks out is Hurricane Fly who has beaten good ones.”

Asked about his performance at Haydock when jumping to his right, the trainer was unconcerned: “It was heavy ground and he was following one in front.

“A horse does not become a bad jumper when he has jumped well all his life - he has only made three significant mistakes in his career - one at Kempton when he was beaten by My Tent Or Yours and that was a split or bust occasion at the last.

“Everyone wants to knock the run, but he was only a few pounds below his best on ground he hated - it was like the Battle of The Somme, and it can’t be like that at Cheltenham.”

Twiston-Davies admitted that Faugheen had “done brilliantly”, but was wary of suggesting that it was a two-horse race, and felt that both Jezki, and in particular Hurricane Fly, were dangerous to underestimate.

Yet to win the Champion Hurdle this year, the handler explained, would be especially sweet after The New One’s unlucky run last year.

He also joked about Khyber Kim’s defeat against “the horse that never was”, a reference to the 2010 win of Binocular after that horse had seemingly been ruled out. The mood was jovial, but you feel the frustration about this gap in his CV is all too real.

It will be a smallish team which goes to the Festival from Naunton, but a few are felt to have live chances, with Little Jon (Cheltenham Club Novices’ Handicap Chase) suggested as the stable’s best chance outside the big race.

“He looks favourably handicapped, and while he’s had problems learning to shorten up at his fences, we’ve had (leading equestrian) Andrew Nicholson in to school him, and he’s shortened brilliantly - we’re confident that’s sorted. He’d be my other good one for the meeting.”

Others to get favourable mentions were Double Ross (Ryanair) and Sybarite in the Pertemps. The latter, a quirky sort, is a stable favourite, and Twiston-Davies was at pains to point out that his patchy record has been the result of an earlier heart problem which has been fixed.

“He keeps a bit back for himself, but he might still be improving, and he’ll be flying up the hill - he could surprise them all.”

Of the absentees, the most notable is Finale winner Bristol De Mai, who is set to wait for Aintree rather than taking on the same owners’ Peace And Co in the Triumph.