Day four of the Punchestown festival is headlined by the Boodles Champion Hurdle at 6.40, a race which has been dominated by favourites in the past few years but this year's race is as wide open as it has been in a long time.

Run over two miles, the race has seen some superstar winners such as Faugheen, Wicklow Brave and Honeysuckle and this year's running features a scintillating clash between the last three winners of the Cheltenham Champion Hurdle - Constitution Hill, State Man and Golden Ace.

A select field of six runners have been declared for Friday's contest and our expert has picked out his best bets.

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Selection: State Man

Next Best: Kargese

Big questions for the top two in the market to answer

Following their falls in the Champion Hurdle at Cheltenham, Constitution Hill and State Man have a few question marks hanging over them. Constitution Hill on his day is superb, but he also fell at Aintree after his stunning early departure at Cheltenham and doubts remain about his concentration after making similar mistakes in back-to-back races.

Further down the betting we have this season's Champion Hurdle winner Golden Ace and County Hurdle winner Kargese, who will be looking to continue their fine form and prove that their Cheltenham triumphs were no fluke.

The two outsiders for the race, Break My Soul and Bottler’secret, are likely to be quickly ruled out by many punters but both have shown glimpses of ability in the past.

All in all it makes for a fascinating renewal.

State Man looking for three in a row

The vote goes for State Man as he was well clear in the Champion Hurdle at Cheltenham before coming down at the last as a lapse of concentration cost him. However, he was dominating that race and if he can replicate that effort on home soil he will be hard to beat.

Willie Mullins' star has looked much more assured than Constitution Hill this season and although he was twice beaten by Brighterdaysahead earlier in the campaign, he found his feet after the turn of the year by winning the Irish Champion Hurdle at Leopardstown comfortably in February.

When all is well he always seems to do enough to get to the line first and his record at Punchestown is superb with five wins from six runs. If the fall at Cheltenham has left no ill effects he has a great chance of bringing up a hat-trick of wins in this race.

Kargese can continue her fine form

Of the three mares in the race Kargese looks best placed to back up her impressive display at Cheltenham.

She was slightly keen early on but looked to settle through the middle part of the race and then made headway when turning for home. She showcased her ability to stay on well in the closing stages despite hanging left slightly.

She is a consistent type who looks to be improving with every run and has never finished outside the top two in her 10 runs under rules. This is a tougher task then the County Hurdle but she has shown that she deserves to contest races such as this and should give a good account of herself.

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