Trainer Alan King has admitted that he believes Saturday's sportingbet.com Champion Hurdle Trial at Haydock is the perfect race for his Cheltenham Festival hopeful Medermit.
While King is not too keen on running his charge on soft ground, he is looking forward to getting a run into him before the six-year-old tackles the Champion Hurdle at jumping HQ in March.
"I would be a bit worried on the ground front for him," said King.
"He has won on heavy ground but that was only a very ordinary novice hurdle.
"He certainly wouldn't be at his best on this but I just felt that he needed one more run before the Champion.
"I'd like to get it into him now and then we can freshen him up so he's at Cheltenham fresh and well.
"It's the same for them all. I can't imagine Punjabi wants it this soft so we'll see what happens."
Zaynar is the current 5/1 market leader for the Champion Hurdle, follow this link to Ladbrokes for information on how to get a free bet on the Cheltenham showpiece.
Champion Hurdle - Ladbrokes
2m, Cheltenham, March 2010
5 Zaynar, 6 Go Native, 6 Solwhit, 8 Binocular,8 Punjabi, 9 Khyber Kim, 10 Celestial Halo, 14 Starluck, 16 Voler La Vedette, 25 Sublimity, 50 Quevega, others on request (1/4 odds 1,2,3)
