Manus The Man might not be the 33/1 skinner that Call Me Dara was last year but the comeback horse still looks the value bet for the Paddy Power Chase at Leopardstown today.
The £130,000 pot makes the handicap one of the most eagerly-sought prizes of the year but few others in the race will have pursued as low profile a preparation as Manus The Man.
The ten-year-old won the last of his three career victories almost three years ago which makes the sponsors' dismissive 20/1 ante-post price understandable.
However, the horse was out of action for two of those years and his two races since returning to action have indicated promise of a return to his considerable best.
The first of those pipe-openers was in a hurdle at Navan last month where he ran prominently to three out. Afterwards Manus The Man was not beaten too far behind Delgany Royal in a chase which is sure to have left him in good shape for the big prize.
Granit d'Estruval travels from Britain to try and emulate the 1998 success of Calling Wild and judged on a good win at Carlisle recently, even the 12st topweight should not hinder his chance.
This Is Serious was the early 8/1 market leader yesterday and another that is sure to attract a lot of attention is the JP McManus-owned Shannon Gale.
The Roche trainee won a hurdle here three years ago and was well fancied to score in this prize last season only to be pulled up behind Call Me Dara.
That illustrated the danger of backing at short odds in such a contest but better ground will suit Shannon Gale better.
Delgany Royal's shout is clear based on his last start while the stamina-laden The Bunny Boiler looks a danger to all if he can speed up his jumping. Nevertheless, Manus is taken to be the big price man.
Like-A-Butterfly misses out on the Grade novices hurdle which appears to leave the way open for Ballyhampshire Boy to score a fifth consecutive success.
The Sean Aherne-trained horse has attracted fancy Cheltenham quotes as well as some big money offers on the back of his winning streak and will probably start a short price.
With the Royal Bond runner-up Sacundai and Like-A-Butterfly's stable mate Yeoman's Point in attendance, too short a price on the favourite might be dangerous but Ballyhampshire Boy is still hard to oppose.
The other Graded race is the two mile chase which the Grand National winner Papillon tries to win for the third time after landing the spoils last year and in 1998.
This time round, however, it looks a particularly hot contest with Knife Edge on a hat-trick and Space Trucker sure to benefit from a comeback second to Knife Edge at Cork.
His Song tops the weights in the handicap hurdle following the lifting of a ban imposed on him by the Navan stewards on his reappearance.
It changes the complexion of the race and leaves the double track winner John Magical in with an attractive-looking weight.
Khetaam ran off a 90 mark on his last start on the flat and is an interesting candidate for the opener while Royal Tilande can score for Arthur Moore, who usually pops up with a winner at this festival, in the maiden hurdle.
