Big Buck's cheers up punters with second World Hurdle success

Backers of the supposed "good things" finally struck gold at the Cheltenham Festival when Big Buck's took the World Hurdle for the second time. After the defeats of Dunguib and Master Minded on the first two days of the meeting, bookmakers finally found themselves paying out on an odds-on favourite, while the champion trainer, Paul Nicholls, enjoyed his second winner of the week. With four flights to jump, the majority of the field were still in contention, with War Of Attrition having set a realistic gallop at the head of the field. But Ruby Walsh had had the sense to get Big Buck's into a prominent position just behind the pace and, when Will Kennedy struck for home aboard Time For Rupert coming down the hill, the favourite was able to stalk him from close behind. The 5-6 favourite cruised up alongside his rival and, despite a slightly clumsy leap at the last, Walsh's mount edged ahead to win by three and a quarter lengths. Powerstation kept on best of the remainder to snatch third place, the fourth time he has been placed at the Festival from four attempts. "He's so much like Denman in his homework, in that he doesn't do much at home but he saves himself for the track," said Nicholls. "It's unbelievable. I worked the horses on Saturday morning – Poquelin, Master Minded, Kauto Star, the lot. They all worked well, but he worked like a hairy goat. "He never hit a flat spot today. We were keen to get him fresh and you have to get into his head a bit more than anything else. He's very good. "There's no point going chasing with him. We'll go to Aintree now and aim to emulate Inglis Drever and win this race again next year." William Hill offer 7-4 about him managing that feat.