The old guard

LAST year’s winner Espoir D’Allen is sadly no longer with us, while Buveur D’Air will also be missing having failed to recover from an injury sustained in the Fighting Fifth. That leaves Silver Streak (third), Sharjah (brought down) and Verdana Blue (fifth) to represent last year’s form. Others who have been around the division for a while are 2017 third Petit Mouchoir, and 2016 Champion Bumper winner Ballyandy who was a close third in the Coral Cup last year, and is better than ever at nine.