Denman and Jack head festival possibles
Denman and Black Jack Ketchum lead a strong entry of 138 in the Royal & SunAlliance Novices’ Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival.
The former, who is trained by Paul Nicholls, currently heads the market for the two-mile-five-furlong contest after notching an easy victory in a Grade One event at Cheltenham on New Year’s Day.
Jonjo O’Neill’s Black Jack Ketchum is as low as 4-1 with William Hill after winning all his three starts over hurdles this season.
Both horses are also entered in the three-mile Brit Insurance Novices' Hurdle.
Nicholls has a big team to pick from though with Be Be King, Gungadu, Natal, Noland and Neptune Collonges although most of these have more than one engagement at the Festival.
Martin Pipe has his usual string of entries with Investment Wings, Magnifico and Not Left Yet among his possibles.
Nicky Henderson’s Blue Shark and the Philip Hobbs-trained Boychuk are also prominent in the betting while Henrietta Knight has entered Chelsea Bridge who has been off the track since beating Trabolgan in a bumper in 2003.
Former useful Flat performer Corrib Eclipse from Ian Williams’ yard and Group Three winner Orcadian are intriguing entries while top-class prospect Zaiyad leads the French challenge for Arnaud Chaille-Chaille.
