Irish pair head Cheltenham entries

Racing:  Ante-post favourite Sweet Wake heads a bumper entry of 113 horses for the Anglo Irish Bank Supreme Novices' Hurdle …

Racing:  Ante-post favourite Sweet Wake heads a bumper entry of 113 horses for the Anglo Irish Bank Supreme Novices' Hurdle at the Cheltenham festival in March.

Noel Meade's Irish raider has been the market leader for the extended two-mile event since easing home at Naas last time.

The five-year-old is one of 45 possibles from Ireland while the home team is headed by the Paul Nicholls-trained Noland.

Meade has only had one Festival winner but he looks to have a strong team this year with his nine entries including yesterday's impressive Leopardstown scorer Nicanor and Iktitaf, already a Grade One winner in Ireland.

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Martin Pipe's team is led by one-time favourite Acambo and he could be joined by Buena Vista, Lunar Sovereign, My Immortal, Nous Voila and Pablo Du Charmil.

Mister Hight tops a 116-strong entry in the JCB Triumph Hurdle.

Willie Mullins' four-year-old was an impressive 20-length winner at Punchestown on New Year's Eve and William Hill make him their 5-1 favourite for the extended two-mile race.

Nicky Henderson's Afsoun, a winner at Cheltenham last month, is also entered in a race which has attracted a record eight contenders from France.

Blue Shark and well-fancied French recruit Bayazid could join stablemate Afsoun in the Grade One event while Paul Nicholls has Turko among his contenders.

Princelet, an impressive winner on his debut at Taunton, is another Henderson-trained entry along with Ostrogoth.

Denman and Black Jack Ketchum lead a strong entry of 138 in the Royal & SunAlliance Novices' Hurdle.

The former, who is trained by Paul Nicholls, currently heads the market for the two-mile-five-furlong contest after notching an easy victory in a Grade One event at Cheltenham on New Year's Day.

Jonjo O'Neill's Black Jack Ketchum is as low as 4-1 with William Hill after winning all his three starts over hurdles this season.

Both horses are also entered in the three-mile Brit Insurance Novices' Hurdle.