Buck's heads World Hurdle 14

Reigning champion Big Buck's heads the 14 declared for the Ladbrokes World Hurdle, one of the highlights at Cheltenham on Thursday.

The Paul Nicholls-trained gelding looks sure to be sent off the odds-on favourite and is one of the “bankers of the meeting” but he'll will face a stern test from the likes of Tidal Bay (Denis O'Regan), Karabak (Tony McCoy) and Sentry Duty (Barry Geraghty).

There are five Irish-trained horses in the line-up. Willie Mullins is just represented by Cousin Vinny after deciding not to run Mourad, while War Of Attrition (Davy Russell), Powerstation (Andrew McNamara), Ebadiyan (John Cullen) and Oscar Dan Dan (Paul Townend) complete the quintet.