PAUL NICHOLLS thinks only an “exceptional performance” from one of his rivals will stop Big Buck’s making history by winning his third successive Ladbrokes World Hurdle today.

The eight-year-old is unbeaten in his last 10 starts since being switched to hurdles following a fall in the Hennessy Cognac Gold Cup. And he has won two stayers’ hurdle titles since. Victory this afternoon would match Inglis Drever’s treble, but Big Buck’s would be the first horse to land three in a row.

David Pipe’s progressive Cleeve Hurdle hero Grands Crus looks the chief threat. But Nicholls said: “He’s fresh and well and where I want him to be. I was amazed when he won at Newbury over Christmas as he blew a house down afterwards.

“We’ve really got stuck into him and he’s had a racecourse gallop. He’s fitter now than ever. If Grands Crus or anyone beats him and he runs up to his best, it will be something exceptional.

“He’s won 10 hurdles, most of them Graded, and he’s a winner.

“It would take an awesome performance for a horse to beat him, but it’ll be a race to savour.”