However, Go Native will not have to face Celestial Halo, after Paul Nicholls decided not to declare last season's Champion Hurdle runner-up.

Nicholls told At The Races: "If the ground had been very testing we maybe would have thought about it, but Kempton doesn't really play to his strengths."

The Noel Meade-trained Go Native is chasing the bonus put up by the sponsor of the Fighting Fifth Hurdle, WBX.com, with the Smurfit Kappa Champion Hurdle the third of the three legs that comprise the £1m bonus.

Binocular, a disappointing fifth in the Fighting Fifth, renews rivalry, while Starluck and Pepe Simo are also among the final declarations for the £100,000 Grade 1.