“It was hard to believe we could win with Douvan in the field. He had looked so good”

● Drying ground and extended trip will benefit King’s charge who gave Mccoy his last Festival winner in same race in 2015

SPECIAL TIARA wins the Queen Mother Champion Chase at Cheltenham for trainer Henry De Bromhead as odds-on favourite Douvan flops.

Lastyear’sfestivalsawsprinter Sacre complete a Lazaruslike return and this time it can be Uxizandre who rises like a phoenix to regain his Ryanair Chase title on day three at Cheltenham.

Uxizandre is unlikely to spark quite the same emotional scenes as Sprinter Sacre did, but he certainly has a very special place in Festival history as he gave Sir Tony Mccoy his final winner at the meeting when lifting this race in 2015.

That was certainly an unexpected victory as he had shown only a limited amount in his two previous runs, but he benefited from a classic Mccoy ride as he made every yard to run out a five-length winner.

However, Uxizandre has suffered his troubles since and did not actually reappear until chasing home Un De Sceaux in the rescheduled Clarence House Chase on Trials Day at Cheltenham in January. He has five lengths to find with the winner here, but there is every reason to believe the Alan King-trained Uxizandre can make up that difference and more.

Uxizandre will surely have tightened up considerably for his first competitive action in nearly two years, while switching back up in trip from two miles is also a plus given the way he stayed on up the hill at this meeting two years ago.

Any drying of the ground would certainly not go against Uxizandre, in contrast to the favourite, and he can snatch back his crown to kick off what could be another memorable afternoon for owner JP Mcmanus, pictured.

Unowhatimeanharryalsosportsthegreen and gold of Mcmanus and he appears set to carry all before him in the Sun Bets Stayers’ Hurdle. Unbeaten since joining Harry Fry in November 2015, the nine-year-old hit the mark in last year’s Albert Bartlett and has impressed in each of his three outings this term.

Unowhatimeanharry can seemingly handle any ground, having won on soft at Newbury on his return before strolling home on slightly quicker conditions in the Grade One Long Walk Hurdle at Ascot.

His victory in the Cleeve Hurdle, when he beat previous staying champion Cole Harden, should have put him spot on for this, especially as he seemed to have a fair bit left in the tank at the line. Backing him won’t make you rich, but should not lose you anything.

Paul Nicholls has spoken in glowing terms about Politologue and, given the JLT Novices’ Chase has long been on the agenda, he should not be ignored. The six-year-old is three from four over fences this term, with his only defeat coming behind Waiting Patiently at Haydock back in January. He paid the price for racing keenly on Merseyside and the winner is no slouch, so it is probably best to judge Politologue on his previous wins at Haydock and Ascot, when he impressed on both occasions.

His victory at Kempton last time out was really a given, but it at least showed Nicholls the addition of a hood could help curb his eagerness and his jumping is more than good enough to withstand the rigours of Cheltenham.