The days when Irish-trained runners dominated the major prizes at the Cheltenham Festival may be receding into the more distant memory now but they will not lack for numbers in this year’s Champion Hurdle.

Having failed to even make the frame in the past two renewals of the Smurfit Kappa Champion Hurdle, Irish trainers appear set to play the numbers game this time around with 21 of the 34 entries for the race.

Heading the challenge is the Noel Meade-trained Go Native, who is seeking a second win at the Festival having won the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle last season. The seven-year-old has already won two Grade One races in Britain this season, following up a comfortable victory in the “Fighting Fifth Hurdle at Newcastle” in November with a hard-fought success over Starluck in the Christmas Hurdle at Kempton the following month.

Go Native will not be seen out again until the Champion Hurdle but two of Ireland’s other main challengers – Solwhit and Sublimity – appear set to re-oppose in the Irish Champion Hurdle at Leopardstown on Sunday.

Willie Mullins, Ireland’s champion trainer has a trio of entries although, of those the one for former ante-post favourite Hurricane Fly looks hopeful at best after he sustained a ligament injury last month. Hurricane Fly has yet to make it to the Festival, with a splint problem ruling him out of last year’s Supreme Novices, but Quevega did run and win the David Nicholson Mares’ Hurdle although she needs to improve by about a stone if she is to become only the third mare to win the Champion Hurdle after Dawn Run (1984) and Flakey Dove (1994). His third entry, Thousand Stars, has won his last two starts and is quietly fancied for the MCR Hurdle at Leopardstown on Saturday.

The biggest ripple on the markets this week came with the news that Philip Fenton has given an entry to the exciting novice Dunguib, who sauntered to a 10-length victory in last year’s Weatherbys Champion Bumper and was an equally impressive winner of the Grade One Royal Bond Novice Hurdle on his latest start.

The home defence is set to be headed by a trio of horses trained by Nicky Henderson. Punjabi, the reigning champion hurdler, is due to run in the Grade Two sportingbet.com Champion Hurdle Trial at Haydock Park on Saturday, while Zaynar, last year’s JCB Triumph Hurdle winner who has posted two impressive Grade Two victories so far this season, is expected out next in the Morebattle Hurdle at Kelso on February 18th.

The third member of the Henderson triumvirate, Binocular, is owned by JP McManus but the man  whose famous green and gold silks were carried to three Champion Hurdle wins when Istabraq was the Irish banker has his chances based this side of the Irish Sea. Henderson has not been too despondent over Binocular’s runs this season, believing that he is improving as the campaign goes on and will be ready for his next run, the Contenders Hurdle at Sandown on February 6th.  Frank Berry, racing manager to McManus, said: “Binocular’s still on course for Sandown and Nicky’s very happy with him at the moment. He came out of the Christmas Hurdle in good shape and I thought that he ran a cracker there – he wasn’t beaten too far and it was a much better performance than Newcastle.

“We didn’t have any real excuses at Kempton so he’s a little to find on Go Native on the formbook. We’ll get Sandown out of the way before focusing on the Festival but he looks in good form at the moment and we couldn’t be happier with him.”

McManus may also be represented by French import Rock Noir, who recently joined the stable of Jonjo O’Neill after rattling off five consecutive wins at Auteuil for Marcel Rolland last year. On his latest start, the five-year-old got the better of Jumbo Rio in a thrilling finish to the Grade One Prix Renaud du Vivier in November.

 “Rock Noir hasn’t been back in training for very long and we would need to get a run into him before Cheltenham before deciding whether to go for the Champion Hurdle. He’s settled in well at Jonjo’s but we haven’t got any firm plans for him at the minute.

“His form in France is very good and it’ll be interesting to see how he stacks up against the English horses when he does run.”

 Paul Wheeler