Trainer Paul Nicholls has insisted that Harry The Viking "will have a chance" of winning the Fulke Walwyn Kim Muir Challenge Cup at the Cheltenham Festival this Thursday.

The eight-year-old, which is part-owned by Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson, has been rated as a 16/1 shot by the majority of bookmakers to emerge victorious from the race.

However, having finished second at the event last year, Nicholls believes that the gelding has a much better opportunity than the betting outlets have given him.

"As long as the ground is good, he will have a chance. I just hope it isn't too soft," he told the London Evening Standard.

"He ran in the Festival last year and was second. So it would be nice to go one better.

"I'm sure Alex would like to have a winner at Cheltenham. He has a good knowledge of racing, knows exactly what he is doing and enjoys it."

Ferguson is expected to be at the Gloucestershire racecourse to watch his horse in action.