Racing:Irish trainers are responsible for 21 of the 34 entries for the Smurfit Kappa Champion Hurdle. Heading the Irish challenge is Noel Meade's Go Native, who is seeking a second win at The Festival having triumphed in the Supreme Novices' Hurdle last season.
The seven-year-old has already plundered two of Britain's top hurdling prizes this season, following up a comfortable victory in the Grade One Fighting Fifth Hurdle at Newcastle in November with a hard-fought success over Starluck in the Grade One Christmas Hurdle at Kempton the following month.
Solwhit was third behind Go Native at Newcastle but the Charles Byrnes-trained six-year-old recorded a third Grade One victory when defeating the 2007 Smurfit Kappa Champion Hurdle victor Sublimity in the Leopardstown Christmas Hurdle.
Both horses are set to re-oppose in this weekend's Irish Champion Hurdle, where they could meet the progressive Donnas Palm, who landed the Grade Two Tara Hurdle on his latest appearance.
Voler La Vedette has been forced to miss her intended engagement in the Irish Champion Hurdle but the talented six-year-old, a 13-length winner over Go Native in a Grade Three Hurdle at Down Royal in November, may bid to become the first mare to land the Smurfit Kappa Champion Hurdle since Flakey Dove in 1994.
A trio of entries from the stable of Willie Mullins includes last season's David Nicholson Mares' Hurdle heroine Quevega, while Philip Fenton has given an entry to the exciting novice Dunguib, who sauntered to a 10-length success 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 last year's JCB Triumph Hurdle winner Zaynar, who has posted two impressive Grade Two victories so far this season including a facile six-length verdict in the Unicoin Homes Relkeel Hurdle at Cheltenham's Boylesports International in December.
A horse with a 100 per cent record at Cheltenham this season is Khyber Kim, trained by Nigel Twiston-Davies. The eight-year-old came with a fine run from way off the pace to land the Greatwood Hurdle at The Open in November and then successfully stepped up in class to land one of the leading trials for the Smurfit Kappa Champion Hurdle, the Boylesports.com International, in December.
As well as Zaynar, Nicky Henderson could also be represented by last year's winner Punjabi as well as Binocular,
Other notable contenders include last year's runner-up Celestial Halo, who is set to start in Sunday's Irish Champion Hurdle at Leopardstown, the 2008 champion Katchit, and Medermit, who found only Go Native a neck too strong in last year's Supreme Novices' Hurdle.
-PA