'The Stayers' Hurdle has always been the plan and there's improvement to come'

The retirement of dual festival hero Defi Du Seuil brings one glorious chapter to an end, but Philip Hobbs heads to Cheltenham with
legitimate chances of adding to his record of 20 career winners at the meeting.

That sequence of success dates back to Moody Man's breakthrough triumph in the 1990 County Hurdle and makes Hobbs the sixth most successful festival trainer currently active.

Twelve months ago, a muscle problem for Thyme Hill deprived the team of arguably their best chance of success, but the classy son of Kayf Tara – an unlucky fourth in the Albert Bartlett in 2020 – subsequently put the record straight with a Grade 1 breakthrough at Aintree.