Cooper wouldn't swap Identity

Bryan Cooper believes Identity Thief will be a fresh horse heading into the Stan James Champion Hurdle at Cheltenham on Tuesday.

The Henry de Bromhead-trained six-year-old narrowly denied Top Notch in the Fighting Fifth at Newcastle in November before finding Nichols Canyon too strong at Leopardstown over Christmas.

Big-race jockey Cooper said: "He's been very good and will probably be a bit better on better ground.

"The break he's had from Christmas to Cheltenham will probably play into his hands a bit because he had a hard race at Christmas and it will have took him a while to get over that.

"Henry seems very happy with him, it's a wide-open race and I don't think I'd swap him for anything else."

As well as leading fancies Annie Power and Nichols Canyon, Willie Mullins is represented by Sempre Medici , but admits he needs to up his game.

The champion trainer said: "He has got to improve about 10lb to get involved. He is not rated in the 160s yet but I have got nothing else to run him in, unless he goes in a handicap off top weight and I don't want to be doing that."