Cheltenham Festival: Stayers' Hurdle preview

It's not just the horses that require agility at the Cheltenham Festival.

Wednesday’s rain means that punters will have to have a major rethink in how they approach races for the remainder of the week as they reassess their selections in the wake of the unexpected change in the going.

The best laid plans of many have been scuppered, prompting a rewrite of this preview for what remains the feature on Day 3, despite the introduction of the Ryanair Chase in 2005.

It’s the weakest of the four days in terms of prestige, with the Stayers’ Hurdle often the preserve of animals that lack the scope or appetite for chasing, and targets such as the Gold Cup. The Ryanair Chase was shunted into the programme for those runners short of the stamina for chasing’s blue riband, but devoid of the pace needed for the Champion Chase.

The Stayers’ Hurdle is the more interest betting heat of the two, even if there’s a suspicion that likely Ryanair winner Allaho would prefer slightly less taxing conditions.

Champions are often marked out by their ability to overcome unfavourable ground conditions and pace biases, but there’s no standout horse heading into this contest. The pace scenario and the testing going are likely to have a huge bearing on a result that could be very different on livelier ground.

Irish raiders Klassical Dream and last year’s winner Flooring Porter head the market.

Both are quirky yet talented performers in what could unkindly be described as a rogues’ gallery, at least by the standards of championship races.

Given the issues with their temperaments in the past, it would be no surprise to see them boil over in the preliminaries.

Connections of Flooring Porter were disappointed not to be in attendance at the behind-closed-doors