LOI PUTS CHAMPION CLAIMS TO TEST Hors La Loi III will attempt to put two disappointing runs this season behind him in tomorrow`s Stg£35,000 Axminster Hurdle at Wincanton. The six-year-old won this race, run as the Kingwell Hurdle, last season for Francois Doumen before finishing second to Istabraq in the Smurfit Champion Hurdle. Now in the care of James Fanshawe, the gelding has been pulled up in both the Bula Hurdle at Cheltenham and Sandown`s Agfa Hurdle this term. Nine horses have been declared for the Grade Two contest including Irish raider Grimes, who won the Grade One Shell Champion Hurdle at Punchestown and a Grade Three event at Killarney last spring. However, Christy Roche`s charge will be having his first outing for 284 days. Other notable runners include the Mark Pitman-trained Hitman, who has been touted as a Champion Hurdle possible, and Paul Nicholls` Triumph Hurdle hope Azertyuiop. Doumen runs Ben Ewar in the race, while stablemate Facts Not Fiction is top weight for the thehorsesmouth.co.uk Hotline 0870 444 6100 Handicap Hurdle.
