Favourite Mack The Man sneaks into Betfair Hurdle

Betfair Hurdle favourite Mack The Man has made the cut for Saturday's £155,000 race, with the Evan Williams-trained runner 23rd of 24 runners declared for the Grade 3 handicap hurdle at Newbury.

The six-year-old has impressed in back-to-back wins this season and he was the overnight 5-1 market leader for Britain's richest handicap hurdle.

Adam Wedge will ride Mack The Man, while Williams has called on the services of jockeys' title leader Brian Hughes for his other runner, Quoi De Neuf.

The Paul Nicholls-trained Tamaroc Du Mathan was the last to make the cut, while the two reserves in the race are Howling Milan and the Gary Moore-trained Distingo. Touchthesoul and Aiguille Rouge were eliminated at the final declaration stage.

Not So Sleepy: declared for the Betfair HurdleCredit: Edward Whitaker

Hughie Morrison was unsure whether Not So Sleepy would take his chance on Monday but he has been declared with Jonathan Burke taking the ride.

The Philip Hobbs-trained Gumball heads the weights with top conditional jockey Ben Jones taking off 3lb.

Nigel Twiston-Davies has won two of the last three runnings of this race and will be represented this time around by Stolen Silver and Sir Valentine.

Nicky Henderson has declared Mill Green and Never Adapt, while the Willie Mullins-trained Ciel De Neige is the sole Irish runner in the field.

Click here to see Saturday's Newbury card

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