Grade One form raises profile of Reve De Sivola for World Hurdle

The dominance of the likes of Inglis Drever and Big Buck’s has meant that punters have rarely benefited from an open renewal of the Ladbrokes World Hurdle from a betting standpoint.

But with Big Buck’s out this term, almost all of the leading entrants offer decent value and Reve De Sivola has to enter calculations with Ladbrokes offering the best price on his chances at 8/1.

Reve De Sivola catapulted himself into the Ladbrokes World Hurdle reckoning with his lengthy success in the Long Walk Hurdle at Ascot, a third Grade One success in his hurdles career.

This Ascot success may not have been the strongest of Grade One contests, but the ease in which he bounded clear had a touch of class about it.

In its entirety, Reve De Sivola’s Grade One hurdles record reads 361211, which includes a Cheltenham Festival second to Peddlers Cross in the Neptune Novices’ Hurdle in 2010.

The other big factor in the favour of punters is that he is one of a select few of the World Hurdle market principles to be pretty certain of a run.

Quevega, Tidal Bay and Oscar Whisky all precede Reve Di Sivola in the Cheltenham betting, but have other obvious engagements, something which can also be labelled at Grands Crus and Peddlers Cross.

Effectively, only Reve De Sivola and fellow 8/1 contender Monksland are pretty much confirmed to line up.

Reve De Sivola has had tendon issues in the past and although heavy ground is not pivotal to his chances, a softer surface is kinder on his legs.

Given that he is fairly adaptable in terms of ground, he should be in contention regardless, but it is hard to argue that the more bottomless the surface, the better his chance of success.

And it is looking increasingly unlikely that the ground will be any firmer that soft come March.

All odds and markets accurate as of publication’s time and date