Rubaud and Colonel Mustard are set to clash again in the Kingwell Hurdle at Wincanton on Saturday, having finished first and second in last season’s Scottish Champion Hurdle.

Carlisle host a competitive eight-race card of jumping on Thursday, with two divisions of a Class 4 novice hurdle and a two-mile handicap chase.

Lorna Fowler may train in Ireland, yet she is a fiercely proud Scot and would like nothing better than to win one of the biggest races north of the border, starting with Saturday’s Coral Scottish Champion Hurdle at Ayr.

Lorna Fowler remains “hopeful” stable star Colonel Mustard will be fit for next week’s Cheltenham Festival despite suffering an overreach in the Morebattle Hurdle at Kelso on Saturday.

Benson pounced late to deliver a telling blow for local handler Sandy Thomson in the bet365 Morebattle Hurdle at Kelso, setting up a potential tilt at a £100,000 bonus if able to quickly follow up at the Cheltenham Festival.