TimeformBlog

[b]Keith Melrose gives his thoughts on this weekend's Fighting Fifth at Newcastle, just don't ask him whether he thinks the meeting will beat the weather![/b] There are seemingly countless trials for the Champion Hurdle these days, but the Fighting Fifth is the first British Grade 1 for two-mile hurdlers and as such often the first proper indicator of how the division is shaping up. It's fitting, then, that reigning champion [b]Binocular[/b] should make his reappearance in the race. Nicky Henderson's six-year-old suffered a disjointed campaign last season, which kicked off with defeat at odds on in this race, before finally getting it right in March when storming to success at Cheltenham. That win belatedly proved Binocular a top-class performer, a rare commodity among hurdlers over...