Ruby Walsh has a sensational record in the Grade One Land Rover Champion Novice Hurdle but his mount today, Glencove Marina, could end up playing second fiddle to the Noel Meade-trained Aitmatov.
Ironically it was Meade that Walsh teamed up with to win this race last year with Nicanor and that provided the champion jockey with a fourth success in the €110,000 contest in the last five seasons.
It's a hugely impressive winning steak for a top-flight event and there will certainly be plenty willing to bet on the chance of Walsh scoring again on board Glencove Marina.
Willie Mullins's horse is the least experienced jumper in the race having only made his hurdling debut last month. There was also some novicey jumping in his subsequent start at Fairyhouse but there was also plenty to like about the way he stayed on to be third to De Valira and Cuan Na Grai in a Grade Two.
There should be improvement to come but there have been some rather lacklustre efforts from part of the Mullins team this week so it may well be that Glencove Marina will do well to get past Cuan Na Grai, who has Tony McCoy on his back this time.
Getting past Aitmatov might be a big task for both of them though as Meade's admirably consistent runner looked to thrive on the quick ground at Fairyhouse on his last start when beating Davorin.
Catch Me represents Cheltenham form where he was third to Massini's Maguire in the Ballymore Properties Novice Hurdle but this sort of going might not be ideal for a horse with form on soft ground.
Even on quick conditions, the three and three quarter miles of the Conyngham Cup will take some getting and that should not be a problem for Hordago who can notch just the second win over fences of his career.
The double-Cheltenham winner was runner-up to Kadoun on a decent surface at last year's Prestbury Park Festival and warmed up for this afternoon's task with a good second at Limerick recently.
Stamina is not a problem for a horse able to run well in a three-mile Pertemps and his position at the right end of the handicap will be a big plus in the closing stages.
Hordago's stable companion Ponmeoath has a shout in the following novice handicap chase where Mossbank would look very attractively weighted if Michael Hourigan's horses were in better form.
The safest option therefore could be Anothercoppercoast, placed in two Grade One's this season, the last of which was a fine third to One Cool Cookie in the Power Gold Cup.
The sentimental favourite in the final festival event, the charity sweepstakes, will be the former double champion chaser Moscow Flyer who comes out of retirement to provide Jessica Harrington's daughter Kate with what is sure to be a memorable racecourse experience.
Even in his pomp, Moscow Flyer could be quite a tricky ride and never one to win by too far but what is certain is that he will prove to be a huge draw in preventing the final day festival crowd leaving before the last.
Colm Murphy runs both Big Zeb and Sher Why Not in the novice hurdle but neither are guaranteed to like the ground and Sizing Europe, who would have been closer to De Valira on his last start but for a mistake, looks like a better value option.
Jockey Davy Condon faces a lengthy spell on the sidelines after picking up what is described as a "significant back injury" in a fall at Punchestown on Tuesday.
The Cheltenham Festival-winning rider was also concussed in the fall and is currently in a body brace in Tallaght hospital awaiting further examination of a fractured vertebrae.
"Thankfully it is not a spinal or a neurological injury but it is a significant back injury," said the Turf Club medical officer, Dr Walter Halley yesterday.
"He has had extensive X-rays and will be assessed again tomorrow." Condon was a shock 40 to 1 winner of the Supreme Novices Hurdle at Cheltenham last month on board Ebaziyan.
