Donn McClean: 'He was a high-class staying novice hurdler but he already looks a better chaser'

The sport's top judges answer the key Cheltenham Festival questions. This time, it's leading pundit and TV analyst Donn McClean . . .

What's your best bet of the meeting? 

I think Majborough is still overpriced for the Triumph Hurdle. Sir Gino looked brilliant at Cheltenham, but Majborough could be very good too. He ran a big race in the Spring Juvenile Hurdle at Leopardstown. He led early, jumped well and kept on bravely after he had been passed to retain third, less than two lengths behind Kargese. That was his first run for Willie Mullins and JP McManus, having been off since April, so there is every chance he will improve considerably for it, and beaten horses in that race (Countrywide Flame, Tiger Roll, Ivanovich Gorbatov, Farclas and Lossiemouth) have a very good record in the Triumph.

How do you see the Champion Hurdle now?  

It’s obviously a great pity Constitution Hill has had that setback – racing needs its stars to perform on the big stages – and hopefully Nicky Henderson can get him back to concert pitch on Champion Hurdle day. But even before that, you could have argued that State Man could get closer this year. It looks like he is a better horse this year and Paul Townend has said since the start of the season that he thought the horse just wasn’t at his best in last year’s Champion. He is obviously top class and could give even a peak-form Constitution Hill a real race.