You can’t fail to love Katchit, whose battling qualities have carried him to victory in eight of his nine races over hurdles, including powerful victories in both the Triumph hurdle at Cheltenham and a Grade 1 at Aintree last season. Punters know he’s going to roll up his sleeves and do his best to win each time, so there’ll be plenty of takers for Corals’ 6/4 about his chances in this Saturday’s WBX.com Fighting Fifth Hurdle at Newcastle.

This will be the four-year-old’s toughest assignment to date, however, as he’ll be taking on older horses for the first time and several other would-be Champion Hurdle contenders. He had to dig deep to beat Degas Art (who was getting 15lb) on his seasonal debut but, as usual, he outbattled the other horse when it came to a fight on the run-in. The style of that win suggested there is still more to come and I fancy him to see off a strong Irish challenge and enhance his Champion Hurdle claims - currently best at 11/2 with betdirect.

The best of the Irish contingent looks to be Harchibald (5/1 Stan James), who was beaten a neck in a Dundalk flat race on Friday night and therefore comes into this race in good form. However, seeing is believing where Harchibald is concerned as he doesn‘t always find much under pressure, and you’d have to fancy Katchit to outdo him in a fight to the finish.

Ebaziyan (12/1 Paddy Power) and Clopf (William Hill) add further spice to the mix, but the most interesting contender is the John Quinn-trained Blythe Knight (11/2 Coral), who was impressive when breezing up at Aintree in the spring, his last run over hurdles. He was able to score easily on the bridle that day, but he’s unlikely to have that luxury here.

Saturday’s race is the first leg of the WBX Triple Crown, which also comprises Kempton’s Christmas Hurdle and the Champion Hurdle in March. WBX are offering a £1 million bonus to any horse that wins all three races, and bet365 make Katchit a 16/1 shot to do just that. Even though I fancy to win on Saturday, those odds make no appeal whatsoever as I can’t see him being any shorter than 3/1 come March, even if he did win the first two legs.

Recommended Bet:

Katchit 3pt @ 6/4 Coral