Falcon is the stable fancy to outshine Rhinestone Cowboy

There is to be an in-house confrontation in the Champion Hurdle at Cheltenham next Tuesday and, in great Western tradition, the showdown will include a cowboy.

It is so likely that either Rhinestone Cowboy or Intersky Falcon will succeed for Jonjo O'Neill in hurdling's Blue Riband that bookmakers are betting odds-on that the prize will return to Jackdaws Castle. But on whose chest will the star be pinned?

O'Neill himself, the man closest to these horses, is one of those furthest from an opinion. The big two do not work together at home and, even if they did, little clear information could be gleaned. Rhinestone Cowboy knows the real stuff takes place on the racecourse and Intersky Falcon is equally indolent unless you put blinkers on him. They are both lazybones until set alight by the amphitheatre of competition.

There were clues to be had though behind the electronic gates at Jackdaws yesterday. Security had been increased on the run-up to Cheltenham. There were rules to be observed and, if Jonjo's spat with the Jockey Club over non-triers was mentioned, there was the threat that he would walk out. Nobody tested the edict. Rhinestone Cowboy may be a short-priced favourite for the Champion, but even his trainer harbours suspicions. It may be the horse's name, which marries one false element with another renowned for botching a job. It may be his admiration for the more yeoman qualities of Intersky Falcon.

Even Jonjo does not know which cowboy will show up next week. Will it be the one that cleans up Prestbury Park or the other sent tumbling backwards through the saloon doors?

Unlike Glenn Campbell's cowboy, this seven-year-old has not been walking these streets very long at all. His callowness at the top level is not a feature lost on the trainer. O'Neill would like to run the horse in his alternative, and easier, contest, the Supreme Novices' Hurdle. But when he takes Rhinestone Cowboy to Cheltenham – six miles away as the crow flies – next Tuesday, O'Neill will just be the ferryman and the toll will be paid by Sue Magnier. And she has enjoyed the novice experience before.

"They've won the other race [with French Ballerina in 1998] and, who knows, there might not be a Cheltenham next year. There might be a war. So why not?" O'Neill said. "I thought he was good at Wincanton [in the Kingwell Hurdle] but he was novicey to be fair. To be realistic he's got to jump up a fair bit. He's just been arriving there and Norman has been sitting up on him. He's looked very good but how good he really is we find out on Tuesday."

Intersky Falcon, on the other hand, has been round the block. He is unbeaten in four races this season and is unrecognisable from the animal which could not even win a novice hurdle at Stratford last season with Tony McCoy on his back. "He got stuffed," O'Neill said. "And I wasn't thinking of the Champion Hurdle then."

Now the race is a recurring theme in a sleep pattern which O'Neill admits is becoming increasingly fragmented. "I've never had a runner in the Champion Hurdle before so to have two in the one year is fantastic," he said. "I'm divided, but the ground on the day will be the key to it. If the ground is quick it will definitely suit Intersky. The other fellow is a better horse on the racecourse than he is at home so it's hard to assess him. But I would go for Intersky. He has the experience and he's a quicker jumper. He's beaten a Champion Hurdle class of horse on the way through." The air was clear but crackling at Jackdaws yesterday. Jonjo knows, but will not admit, that this could be his year.

About 20 horses will file out in the caravans across the Cotswolds next week, a fair return from a string of 90 runners. There is hardly a social runner among them. The team includes handicappers such as Quazar (Coral Cup), Putsometnby (Kim Muir) and Shamawan (Grand Annual Chase). The stable's staff feel that Keen Leader, in Wednesday's Royal & SunAlliance Chase, is their banker for the Festival, although he will also be declared for the Gold Cup the following afternoon "as a precaution".

Owners of Iris's Gift want to run the grey in the Stayers' Hurdle. O'Neill said: "I think he should go for the Pertemps Hurdle, but we'll argue it out over the weekend."

* A fall at Santa Anita Park last Saturday may have ended the career of Laffit Pincay Jr, 56, the most successful jockey of all time. Pincay, who has ridden 9,531 winners, broke a bone in his neck. Although the injury is far more serious than first thought he will be fitted with a halo cast and leave hospital in a day or so.