Inca and McCoy the real deal

MUST confess to mild surprise that Brave Inca wasn’t promoted to outright favouritism for the Champion Hurdle, following that performance at Punchestown on Sunday.

You would have to say the 7-1 currently available is pretty good value about Colm Murphy's gelding, given we know he loves a fight and that the final fearsome Cheltenham hill has never been a problem for him in the past. When bookmakers price races they take everything into consideration. But, at the same time, you’d have to wonder if the fact Barry Cash won't be aboard has been factored in.

No disrespect to Cash, but, like the vast majority of his colleagues, he is simply not in the Tony McCoy league. McCoy has now partnered Brave Inca twice and has shown exactly the correct way to ride him. As a consequence, Brave Inca has produced two wonderfully dramatic performances.