Thirty Left For Greatwood

Osana heads the 30 horses confirmed for Sunday's Greatwood Handicap Hurdle at Cheltenham after a number of higher-rated entries defected at the latest stage.

Desert Quest had topped the weights on 11st 12lb, but that Paul Nicholls-trained seven-year-old will not run at the weekend.

Gaspara, Farmer Brown, Catch Me and Gwanako are other notables to have dropped out of the reckoning.

Despite the significant rising of the weights, a number of interesting names are still present in the two-mile showpiece won by Rooster Booster and Detroit City in recent years.

These include Queen Mother Champion Chase runner-up Dempsey, Jonjo O'Neill's Mountain and the Charlie Mann-trained Kanad, recent winner of a valuable contest at Ascot.

Edward O'Grady's Catch Me finished third in the Ballymore Properties Novices' Hurdle at Prestbury Park in March but will wait for a race closer to home in the near future.

'Catch Me won't run now until the Fairyhouse meeting in early December,' the County Tipperary handler explained.

'He ran quite well at the Curragh and we were pleased enough with his comeback. John Egan rode him and he stayed on quite well,' he told At The Races.

'We were going to run him in the Lismullen but he scoped the previous Saturday and we weren't happy with him. We wouldn't have run on the ground anyway as it turned out.

'He'll probably now go for a winners' race at Fairyhouse on December 1.'

(C) PA Sport