Yanworth faces tough competition from My Tent Or Yours and The New One in the Christmas Hurdle at Kempton on Boxing Day.
Six horses have been entered for Monday‘s race, with Alan King‘s Yanworth expected to go off as favourite after a victory over two-and-a-half miles at Ascot last month.
The JP McManus-owned six-year-old was second in last season’s Neptune Novices’ Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival and will want to put down a marker for next year’s Festival among decent company at Kempton.
McManus also has My Tent Or Yours, who won this contest 2013, in the race while The New One, who beat My Tent Or Yours in the International Hurdle at Cheltenham earlier this season, is another stand-out entry.
Willie Mullins‘ interest in the Christmas Hurdle lies with Vroum Vroum Mag while Dan Skelton‘s Ch’Tibello and Richard Harper’s Gray Wolf River are the others on the six-horse list.