Paul Kealy's guide to the key players in the Champion Hurdle

Buveur D’Air will bid to become the sixth to complete a Champion Hurdle hat-trick – and the second for trainer Nicky Henderson after See You Then in the mid-1980s – but it looks a more difficult task now that he has lost his air of invincibility and has a serious rival in Apple’s Jade.

Defeat in the Christmas Hurdle by stablemate Verdana Blue was only the second over jumps for Buveur D’Air, the first having been in the 2016 Supreme Novices’ Hurdle behind Altior, but it was a jolt to the Buveur believers, swiftly followed by another when Apple’s Jade landed the Irish Champion Hurdle in such dominant style that her connections were quick to target this race rather than the Mares’ Hurdle.

Click here for the Unibet Champion Hurdle entries