Activial stars in field of 19 for Ladbroke
A smart juvenile last season, Harry Fry’s four-year-old has not been seen since slightly disappointing at Aintree in April and his price has more than halved since Monday.
Second favourite is Shelford who will aim to give Dan Skelton, like Fry a former assistant of champion trainer Paul Nicholls, a second successive win in the race after Willow’s Saviour last year.
There are several strong Irish contenders headed by the Willie Mullins-trained Clondaw Warrior, third in the Greatwood Hurdle at Cheltenham.
He will be joined on the journey over by Gordon Elliott’s Bayan, Tony Martin’s Pyromaniac and Arthur Moore’s Sea Beat.
Garde La Victoire, winner of the Greatwoood for Philip Hobbs, carries top weight and will be ridden by Tom O’Brien.
David Pipe’s Balgarry has not been seen since the Cheltenham Festival of 2012 and will be joined by stablemate Swing Bowler.
Reve De Sivola meanwhile will face four rivals when he bids for a third successive victory in the JLT Long Walk Hurdle, also at Ascot tomorrow.
The Nick Williams-trained nine-year-old has clinched the Grade One prize for the past two seasons and looks set to encounter his favoured testing conditions on his return to Berkshire this weekend.
Daryl Jacob’s mount is on something of a recovery mission, however, having been largely disappointing since his triumph 12 months ago.
