Bob Olinger won at Cheltenham, Hiddenvalley Lake won at Aintree, and now their owner Brian Acheson is trying to complete a clean sweep of the spring Grade 1 staying hurdles at Punchestown on Thursday.

Acheson, whose horses run under the Robcour banner, has two runners in Thursday's race - last year's winner Teahupoo and his recent Aintree winner Hiddenvalley Lake.

Teahupoo is favourite, despite the fact that the drying ground is not to his liking. However, he handled good ground well enough when second to Bob Olinger at Cheltenham.

Hiddenvalley Lake was also thought to be a soft ground specialist until he romped home at Aintree on a lively surface.

The third favourite is the Declan Queally-trained Rocky’s Diamond, who has enjoyed an excellent campaign, winning the Galmoy Hurdle at Gowran Park before finishing fourth in the Stayers’ Hurdle.

However, Queally admitted to having concerns ahead of his final outing of the season, saying: “He came back from Cheltenham very tired, so we had to give him a good two weeks in the field to recharge and he might not be quite as ready as he was for Cheltenham.

“I’m happy we’ve got plenty of work into him, we’re pretty hopeful he’s in good order and I think a big run is on the cards, but you’re always worried about a total no-show at this time of the year.

“There is a risk of that, but we’ve got nothing to lose really, I’ve been happy with his four bits of work over the last fortnight and I think he’s 95% ready, so we’ll just proceed forward and hope he runs well.

“He’ll be going out in the field next week and it’s been a great season – win, lose or draw.”

Crambo bids to end a topsy-turvy season on a high for trainer Fergal O'Brien,

In an almost mirror image of last term, Crambo came out on top in the Long Walk Hurdle at Ascot in December before losing his way in the new year, this time disappointing in the Cleeve Hurdle at Cheltenham before falling in the Stayers’ Hurdle at the Festival in March.

However, he is six from six on right-handed tracks and with cheekpieces applied for the first time, O’Brien is hoping Crambo can show his true colours on his Irish debut.

“He cantered in Punchestown this (Wednesday) morning and he’s well, so fingers crossed,” said the Ravenswell Farm handler.

“We definitely need the rub of the green, which he hasn’t had on his last two runs, and we’re putting some cheekpieces on him to try to help his jumping.

Previous opponents

“He’s beaten the second-favourite (Hiddenvalley Lake), who won in Liverpool (Aintree), so if he turns up in that sort of form, I think he’ll be there or thereabouts.

“It’s beautiful ground – they’ve done a brilliant job considering the weather. There’s an amazing covering of grass and the place looks stunning, so we’re really looking forward to him running.”