The nine-year-old is reunited with Tony McCoy after recording a facile victory under Ruby Walsh in the Bewleys December Festival Hurdle at Leopardstown's Christmas meeting, and the bookmakers are unanimous in making him favourite to capture the race for a second time en route to Cheltenham glory.

Brave Inca certainly won't have matters all his own way with the likes of the 2005 winner Macs Joy and Hardy Eustace in the line-up, not to mention last season's Aintree Hurdle winner Asian Maze and the young pretender Iktitaf, but he relishes a battle and will be hard to beat.

Macs Joy is one of two runners for the Jessica Harrington stable - Hide The Evidence is the other - and Barry Geraghty's mount may be the one to give Brave Inca most to do on his seasonal reappearance, just as he did last year when filling the runner-up spot, beaten by just a length in a thrilling finish.

Dual Champion Hurdler Hardy Eustace, meanwhile, occupied third place behind Macs Joy in the race two years ago and showed all his old sparkle when winning the Ascot Hurdle in November.

Iktitaf would appear to be the better-fancied of Noel Meade's duo, but he too is held by Brave Inca on December Festival Hurdle form and, like Asian Maze, is likely to find the underfoot conditions against him. The trainer's other representative, Jazz Messenger, beat Noble Request and a below-par Straw Bear in the Christmas Hurdle at Kempton.

That leaves Eoin Griffin's progressive four-year-old Lounaos who was an impressive winner of the Juvenile Hurdle at this venue over Christmas. In receipt of 19lb from all her rivals, bar Asian Maze, the French-bred is sure to run a big race but Brave Inca is still expected to hold all the aces.