Last year's World Hurdle was a gimme for Big Buck's but there is a new kid on the block in the shape of Grand Crus and Thursday's renewal (3.20) is now one of the most eagerly awaited races of the entire Festival.

2010 Result: Big Buck's, trained by Paul Nicholls and ridden by Ruby Walsh, 5/6 SP

Key Trends:
The previous year's winner has returned four times in the past decade and their overall record stands at three wins and one second. Clearly, that speaks in the favour of Big Buck's, although he would be the first horse to win three consecutive staying hurdle crowns (Inglis Drever missed out in 2006 due to injury) if successful.

He's been off the track since winning the Long Walk Hurdle in December and that Newbury race has provided the winner four times in the past 20 years, although the Cleeve Hurdle, won by Grand Crus, has now usurped it as the best trial - three of the last four winners ran in the Cheltenham Grade 2 event.

This is not a great race for the Irish with just four winners since the mid-1980s and none since Dorans Pride in 1996 - Mourad and Fiveforthree look their best chances of breaking that run. However, neither of that pair ran at last year's Festival and that is a negative considering all but two of the last 17 winners had been in action 12 months earlier.

Big-priced winners are rare - six of the last seven runnings have gone to horses in the first five in the betting - while French-breds have won five of the past nine runnings and it's long odds-on we will get another one this year with both Big Buck's and Grand Crus (along with his stablemate Ashkazar) falling into that bracket.

Major Players:
In nearly two years since he outgunned Punchestowns here, Big Buck's has dominated the staying hurdle scene and he has a perfect 10-10 record since reverting to hurdles after unseating his rider in the 2008 Hennessy. In that time, he has not had a hard race since hitting a flat spot (not for the first time) in the 2009 Long Walk Hurdle at Newbury, while his toughest opponent was Punchestowns in the 2009 World Hurdle - the latter built up what looked an unassailable lead only to crumple when Big Buck's drew alongside on the flat. His trainer Paul Nicholls has been quoted as saying he's the most talented horse in the yard, which is some compliment, and he's quite rightly a short-priced favourite for this, with no bigger than 11/10 on offer.

He'd be a lot shorter but for the emergence of Grand Crus, whose Cleeve Hurdle romp was one of the most visually impressive of the season. After starting the season on a handicap of mark 126 (in hindsight, he was a certainty on his reappearance here in November), he's climbed to a mark of 169, which is just 5lb shy of Big Buck's', and there is surely more to come after just six starts over hurdles. That could be seen as a negative considering that eight of the last 10 winners had run between eight and 20 times over hurdles, but it's also a negative for Big Buck's, who is at the other end of the scale with 23 hurdle starts under his belt. Of more of a concern is the possibility of good ground as his trainer David Pipe considers him a soft ground horse, while some have questioned his ability to see out the race given he's a headstrong sort who likes to race prominently.

Lively Outsiders:
Ireland are attempting to spoil the party with Mourad and Fiveforthree and the former, in particular, can be given an each-way chance. He's done all his winning in Ireland, which makes the form hard to evaluate, but you can't argue with the ease of his victories over 3m on ground softer than he likes, and we know he handles Cheltenham as he finished third in one of the hottest Triumphs we've seen - Zaynar and Walkon finished ahead of him, with Starluck and Reve De Sivola fourth and sixth respectively. His trainer Willie Mullins thinks he's still improving and you have to sit up and take notice.

Betting Advice:
Tactics and the run of the race will play a crucial role in the outcome. If it's a fast-run race, that will play into the hands of Big Buck's, who arguably has the greater stamina. If it's more of a speed test, Grands Crus might well beat him, although the Pipe horse needs the field to go fast enough to allow him to settle. It's a fascinating contest and one I could easily just watch and savour, although I admit to having a small ante post investment on Grands Crus at 9/2 after the Cleeve. If you are not already on, he looks a bit cramped now at around 5/2 and the best piece of advice might be to back MOURAD each-way at around 9/1 or at 4/1 in bet365's 'w/o Big Buck's' market (1/4 odds, 1.2.3), which is surely a bet to nothing.