OFF the track for well over 400 days, Charles Byrnes sent Blazing Khal on a mission last weekend, and accomplished what he set out to do. After the Willie Austin-bred seven-year-old son of Kalanisi (Doyoun) landed the spoils in the Grade 2 Boyne Hurdle, he was instantly installed as one of the favourites for the Grade 1 Stayers’ Hurdle at Cheltenham next month.

The gelding is no stranger to Prestbury Park, and his final two starts before his enforced break were in the Cotswolds, capturing a pair of Grade 2 novice hurdles there in November and December 2021. Now he will attempt to emulate the Byrnes-trained Solwhit, a decade after he was successful in the Cheltenham feature race.