McCoy looking forward to Binocular run Tony McCoy is looking forward to teaming up with Binocular in the totesport 0800 221 221 Contenders Hurdle at Sandown tomorrow week ahead of his bid to retain his crown in the Stan James Champion Hurdle. The 15-times champion jump jockey believes this season's renewal at the Cheltenham Festival is the best for many a year - and realises Nicky Henderson's charge will have to be at the top of his game if he is to record back-to-back wins in the big race. However, Binocular's preparation has gone well so far this winter with the JP McManus-owned gelding following the same route as he did in the last campaign. "Obviously Cheltenham is getting close. Hopefully all the horses will get there in one piece," McCoy told Sky Sports News. "Binocular is a horse that won the Champion Hurdle last year. He's running in probably the best Champion Hurdle there has been for a long, long time. "I'm very much looking forward to it. I've won a Champion Hurdle on him, I love the horse and hopefully he can go back and win another one, but it won't be easy for him this time. "He's been pretty good since Kempton, touch wood. All is going well and the plan is to run him at Sandown before he goes to Cheltenham. "He'll have run in the same three races (Fighting Fifth, Christmas Hurdle and Contenders Hurdle) he did before he won at Cheltenham last year. "The plan is for him to go to Sandown and all being well he'll do that."
