Champion Hurdle

The inaugural Betfair Super Saturday meeting at Newbury this weekend, which already has Long Run, Grands Crus and Zarkandar among its likely runners, acquired an unexpected fresh attraction on Monday when the Scilly Isles Novice Chase, which was due to take place at Sandown last weekend, was added to the card.

Just in case Nicky Henderson was not feeling sufficiently concerned about Binocular's return to action in Saturday's Fighting Fifth, the horse's owner, JP McManus, sent a little reminder yesterday about the standards to which he has been accustomed.