PUNTERS with one eye on next month's Cheltenham Festival will no doubt have the other on Huntingdon's Sidney Banks Memorial Novices' Hurdle today as no fewer than six of the eight-strong field also hold an entry for the Royal SunAlliance Novices' Hurdle.
The runner that really takes the eye for today's extended 2 1/2 mile race is the Marquesa de Moratalla's Agistment. Jimmy FitzGerald sends the six-year-old down the Al on the back of two hurdles successes following a career in bumpers.
Agistment first ran over timber at Newcastle in November when he gained an impressive four-length verdict over Hand Woven in a three-mile novice event.
As if to prove he didn't necessarily need such a distance of ground to show his best, the gelding dropped back half a mile to gain a half-length verdict over the odds-on Mighty Moss at Uttoxeter in December.
Another hat-trick seeker, the David Nicholson-trained Forest Ivory, will give Agistment plenty to do but FitzGerald's charge warrants the nap.
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