Previous winner looks top value to reign again in above-average Stayers' Hurdle

The 16 runnings of the Stayers' Hurdle since the switch to a four-day Cheltenham Festival in 2005 divide neatly into two very different groups.

Seven of the first eight races were won by just two horses and, had he not missed the 2006 festival with a tendon injury, it's not unreasonable to think that Inglis Drever would have matched the four successive wins of Big Buck's. However, since Big Buck's was last successful in 2012, eight new names have been added to the roster of winners.

A sense of order might be restored this year in what looks a stronger renewal. Unlike last year's race when only Paisley Park (170) took a current RPR above 162 into the meeting, there is a good chance that at least five starters will be rated above that level this time.