Last year, Faugheen's performance was one of the highlights of the entire Cheltenham Festival. Heading a field that included the likes of Hurricane Fly, The New One and Arctic Fire, Faugheen cantered up the famous Cheltenham hill to earn victory for Ruby Walsh and Willie Mullins. In 2016, although he faces stiff competition from stablemate Nichols Canyon, it's hard to see Faugheen passing up the opportunity to defend his title in front of an expectant Cheltenham crowd.
At the time of writing, Coral are pricing Faugheen at 1/3 to go on and defend his crown at Cheltenham. So far, Faugheen has been almost invincible – winning 12 of his 13 starts – but he was recently beaten into second place by Nichols Canyon at Punchestown despite going off at 1/6. That race may tempt punters to look elsewhere but Faugheen has responded well since the defeat, winning at Kempton before claiming the Irish Champion Hurdle at Leopardstown last month.
Last year, Ruby Walsh earned an opening day treble at the Cheltenham Festival on what has now been labelled as “Ruby Tuesday”. This year, Coral are predicting Walsh may romp home again and could go down in history if he wins the top jockey award for the tenth time. In fact, he and Willie Mullins – who will combine on Faugheen, Douvan, Un de Sceaux and Annie Power again this year – have won the best jockey/trainer awards in each of the last three years and will be hunting their respective accolades for a fourth successive year.
However, it would be foolish to dismiss both Arctic Fire and Nichols Canyon as these two horses are certainly capable of toppling the imperious Faugheen. Arctic Fire may have a slightly better chance based on his recent form but Nichols Canyon has the psychological edge after his November victory at Punchestown. A lot will come down to the ground; Faugheen is the better stayer and his two nearest challengers may have a better chance if the going is good, good to soft.
For neutrals, this year's Champion Hurdle may be the best yet and there will be plenty of media attention in the build-up to the race. Can Faugheen hold off his nearest challengers or will Nichols Canyon get the better of him again? Only time will tell but anticipating and excitement is already building for one of the biggest and the best races of the Cheltenham Festival – and WE CAN'T WAIT.
