A treble in the air for Buveur and Henderson

BUVEUR D’AIR is odds-on favourite to win a recordequalling third consecutive Champion Hurdle at Cheltenham in March after demolishing two of his biggest rivals in the Fighting Fifth Hurdle at Newcastle.

Trainer Nicky Henderson had feared the 11-8 favourite might be betrayed on his first run of the season.

But despite fluffing the last flight, the Barry Geraghtyridden Buveur D’Air sprinted away for an eightl ength win from Gordon Elliott-trained 6-5 favourite Samcro, who had pressed on from the front in an attempt erode the winner’s fitness.

With Summerville Boy, like Samcro a novice winner at last season’s Cheltenham Festival, a further 13 lengths back in third, the magnitude of the gap between them and Buveur D’Air has been illustrated. Henderson, whose nerves beforehand were amplified by defeat of his star chaser Might Bite at Haydock seven days earlier, said: ‘ After last weekend, you are worried about how straight they are. I was ready for another bloody nose.

‘We knew they were bound to make the running. He was as big as a bull and there is a lot to come. If he was ever going to get beaten, it was today. There are other fish in the pond but he’s the one to beat.’

Buveur D’Air’s winning sequence stretches to his last 11 races. He has not been beaten since his third in the 2016 Supreme Novices’ Hurdle behind stablemate Al ti or, who makes his seasonal comeback in the Tingle Creek Chase at Sandown on Saturday. The Christmas Hurdle at Kempton on Boxing Day will be the next race for JP McManus- owned Buveur D’Air. The Grade One Kauto Star Novices’ Chase on the same card will be the target of Henderson’s Santini, who made a hugely-impressive steeplechasing debut in the John Francome Novices’ Chase at Newbury.

The defeat was not enough to convince Elliott he should change tack with Samcro and divert to novice chase.

Bu t whe n asked how Samcro could find the eight lengths he was beaten by, the Irish trainer admitted: ‘A miracle! Listen, we’ll need an awful lot of luck, but we decided we’d train him for the Champion and that is what we’ll do.

‘We came to try to take him on and he just showed how good he is. Buveur D’Air was excellent. We’ve no excuses.’