text: Kasbah Bliss Warm Order For the Cheltenham Festival Ladbrokes World Hurdle
  Kasbah Bliss, who only found the mighty Inglis Drever a length too good in last year's Ladbrokes World Hurdle, heads the 16 acceptors at the six-day confirmation stage for this year's renewal of the £260,000 contest (3.20pm), the feature race on day three of The Festival, Thursday, March 12, 2009.
  Trained by Francois Doumen in France, Kasbah Bliss was a hugely impressive winner on his seasonal reappearance at Haydock last month but is sure to face some stiff opposition from the likes of Big Buck's, victorious in the Byrne Group Cleeve Hurdle at Cheltenham in January and Punchestowns, who finished runner-up to Big Buck's on Festival Trials Day having previously won the Long Walk Hurdle at Ascot in December. Others in the mix include Blazing Bailey, who has been fourth and third in the last two renewals of the Ladbrokes World Hurdle, Fair Along, who was third in the Byrne Group Cleeve Hurdle and one of the toughest horses in training, Lough Derg. One of the most interesting horses among today's acceptors is Mighty Man, off the track for almost two years but only beaten three quarters of a length by Inglis Drever in the 2007 Ladbrokes World Hurdle.