Harry Fry is hoping for a dry week at Punchestown ahead of Rock On Ruby's rematch with Hurricane Fly in the Rabobank Champion Hurdle next Friday.

Rock On Ruby was runner-up to Hurricane Fly in last month's StanJames Champion Hurdle at Cheltenham but Fry thinks quicker ground could see his stable star reverse placings.

In his latest blog for StanJames.com, Fry revealed that Rock On Ruby would be his only runner at the Punchestown Festival.

He said, "Opening Batsman was scratched from Tuesday's race at Punchestown. We've also got King Of The Night in on the Friday but he won't be travelling. We'll be looking to go to Haydock on the 11th, Swinton Hurdle day, for an intermediate handicap chase. And so it'll just be Rock On Ruby we're taking over. He'll have a travelling companion in Richard Barber's Chapoturgeon who's going over for the Foxhunters on that day which is useful.

"Obviously we'd like it to be nice and sunny between now and next Friday to dry the ground out a bit. I think it's currently soft, heavy in places. Sprinter Sacre has been confirmed so either Nicky Henderson's not as worried about the ground as he was or he's been told it will improve. I hope it's the latter for our sake come Friday but I'm told that it can dry particularly quickly.

"I think we're definitely going. Barring requiring Noah's Ark, I think we'll be there. It's not his ideal ground as he's definitely better on good ground. The softer it is, the more it favours Hurricane Fly - they're definitely his conditions. If we're going to beat him, we need as much in our favour as possible and drier ground would certainly suit us. We're going out there to run and we just hope the weather comes for us."

Sandown next Saturday is still a possibility for Racing Plus Chase winner Opening Batsman. Fry said, "Opening Batsman is doing a bit of work this morning and we'll be able to gauge then whether he goes for the Bet365 Gold Cup at Sandown. He actually seemed quite bright and well in himself yesterday morning. I haven't sat down and talked with the owners yet but we'll do so later today and we'll be making a decision before the confirmation stage on Monday morning."