Trainer Nigel Twiston-Davies has high hopes for The New One this season.

By Simon Jackson.

The New One bids to extend his unbeaten record this season when he contests the £100,000 StanJames.com International Hurdle at Cheltenham’s International meeting next month.

The six-year-old won this race last year and bids to become the first multiple winner of the Grade 2 contest since Relkeel won it three times in the late 1990s.

The Nigel Twiston-Davies-trained gelding was later that season widely considered an unlucky loser of the 2014 Champion Hurdle where he was badly hampered in the early stages and ran on well to finish third.

He ended the campaign with a narrow win over 2012 Champion Hurdle winner Rock On Ruby in the Grade 1 Aintree Hurdle in April.

This season Twiston-Davies’ charge has enhanced his Champion Hurdle claims with authoritative victories at Kempton and Haydock and his trainer is upbeat about his chances at The International meeting on December 13.

“The New One has taken his race very well and it’s all systems go for Cheltenham next month,” Twiston-Davies said.

“He did not have a lot to beat at Haydock but he did it nicely, so I was very happy with the performance.

“His jumping was slick. It’s not really something we have been working on, it’s just that he hasn’t had a lot of races and he is getting better and better as he gets older.

“The return to Cheltenham should suit him as he loves that hill.”

The New One is the 3/1 second favourite with the sponsor for the Stan James Champion Hurdle where the betting is headed by the unbeaten Faugheen (2/1), an impressive winner of the Grade 2 Ascot Hurdle last week.

Read ‘Horse Talk with Simon Jackson’ at London24 for the latest horse racing news.