Buveur set to put up strong defence of Champion crown

Barry Geraghty is expecting Buveur D'Air to put up a strong defence of his Unibet Champion Hurdle title at the Cheltenham Festival.

Nicky Henderson's charge had an unconventional preparation last year, starting the campaign over fences before switching to hurdles mid-season and going on to win the Grade One prize.

The seven-year-old is unbeaten in three starts so far this term, including two Grade Ones, and Geraghty is pleased with how his season has gone.

He told his At The Races blog: "He has done everything that he has been asked to do this season, and he has been impressive in doing it. He has run three times, in the Fighting Fifth Hurdle, the Christmas Hurdle and the Contenders Hurdle, and he has won all three races easily.

"He has had a much more straightforward preparation this season than he had last season. He started off last season jumping fences and, after winning his first two chases, he reverted to hurdles for the Contenders Hurdle before winning the Champion Hurdle and then winning the Aintree Hurdle. I rode him at Aintree, but I missed out on him at Cheltenham, so I would love to win a Champion Hurdle on him.

"He did a racecourse gallop at Kempton last Saturday, and that was perfect for him. He did just a little bit more than he would do in a piece of work at home, he went almost two miles with Might Bite and Theinval, and that is further than he would go at home. He went very well, I was delighted with him and Nicky was very happy.

"It's brilliant for them, to get them away like that, to sharpen their minds, get them thinking about the job. You're not going to get to the bottom of them in a racecourse gallop like that, it's all very controlled, you're only getting as much work in as you need to get in, and that is perfect when Cheltenham is only a couple of weeks away.

"Everything has gone great with Buveur D'Air so far, and hopefully that continues to be the case for the next 11 days or so."