Hurricane Fly up against nine Champion Hurdle rivals

Hurricane Fly will face a maximum of nine rivals when he aims to regain his crown in the Stan James Champion Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival on Tuesday.

The Willie Mullins-trained nine-year-old landed the two-mile championship in 2011 and although he was beaten into third when odds-on 12 months ago, he has looked better than ever so far this season.