12.00 Tote Guarantee, Never Beaten By SP Hurdle 2m

This is the four-year-old-only event in which Teahupoo made a winning Irish debut back in 2021. Most of the interest this time revolves around Willie Mullins’ two French recruits, Macho Man (carrying the colours of Joe and Marie Donnelly) and Proactif (J.P. McManus). In his early-season stable tours, the champion trainer outlined his hopes that both could make into Triumph Hurdle contenders, and the pair arrived from Auteuil debut victories with big reputations. A tentative vote goes to Paul Townend’s mount, Macho Man, who is priced up at 14/1 for the Triumph - the same odds as is the case for Proactif.