Drever given shorter option

Ladbrokes World Hurdle winner Inglis Drever is among 13 entries for the Scottish & Newcastle Aintree Hurdle at the Merseyside course on Saturday.

Graham Wylie’s six-year-old, trained by Howard Johnson, would be stepping back to two and a half miles following his famous victory over Baracouda in the stayers’ championship at Cheltenham last month.

Inglis Drever is also engaged in the John Smith’s And Batleys Liverpool Hurdle over an extended three miles on Thursday.

Johnson has a second string to his bow in Saturday’s contest in Chivalry.

A strong field is expected to line up for the Grade One race, with other possibles including Brave Inca, Accordion Etoile and Macs Joy – the third, fourth and fifth home in the Champion Hurdle.

Other Champion Hurdle also-rans with an entry are Intersky Falcon (sixth), Al Eile (seventh) and Rooster Booster (eighth).

Philip Hobbs’s popular grey Rooster Booster would be making his fourth successive appearance in the race, being runner-up for the past two years after finishing fourth in 2002.

Westender, fourth in the World Hurdle and third in this race 12 months ago, is Martin Pipe’s sole entry.

The Francois Doumen-trained Blue Canyon, Venetia Williams’s Coral Cup winner Idole First, Monet’s Garden and Exotic Dancer complete the list.