Wicklow Brave to target Champion Hurdle

Owner Nick Peacock believes he could have a lively outsider for this year's Unibet Champion Hurdle in the shape of Wicklow Brave.

A runway winner of the County Hurdle in 2015, the Willie Mullins-trained nine-year-old was not disgraced in finishing seventh in last season's Champion Hurdle after blowing the start.

He went on to claim a surprise victory in the Punchestown Champion Hurdle under the trainer's son, Patrick Mullins, beating the three-time Champion Hurdle runner-up My Tent Or Yours.

Wicklow Brave has not been seen in competitive action since finishing down the field in the Melbourne Cup for the second time in November, but has been pencilled in for a return to the Cotswolds.

Peacock said: "He had a nice holiday after the Melbourne Cup, but he's back in work now and hopefully we might get him back for Cheltenham.

"In the year we're in, if everything went right, I think he could be there or thereabouts in the Champion Hurdle.

"When you look at the form of Buveur D'Air and My Tent Or Yours, if he (Wicklow Brave) runs up to his best he wouldn't be miles behind them."

Wicklow Brave is a general 25-1 shot to claim the two-mile hurdling crown at Cheltenham on March 13.