[3] Buveur d'Air (French for "drinker of air") is a bay gelding with a small white star bred in France by Gérard Ferté.
The gelding was then acquired by Potensis Bloodstock and Chris Giles and was sent to England where he was trained at Upper Lambourn in Berkshire by Nicky Henderson.
On his debut over obstacles he won a maiden hurdle at Newbury in November taking the lead at the final flight and accelerating clear to win in "impressive" style by eleven lengths from the favoured Wait For Me.
[10] Buveur d'Air made his first appearance at the Cheltenham Festival on 15 March 2016 when he started the 10/1 third favourite in a fourteen-runner field for the Supreme Novices' Hurdle.
After being restrained by his regular jockey Noel Fehily in the early stages he stayed on without ever looking likely to win and finished third behind his stablemate Altior and the Irish-trained Min.
On his debut over fences at Haydock Park on 17 December he was ridden by Aidan Coleman and won "easily" by three and a quarter lengths from Cloudy Dream.
With several leading hurdlers being injured and the Henderson-trained Altior dominating the novice chase division it was decided to return Buveur d'Air to the smaller obstacles for the remainder of the season.
Ridden by Fehily Buveur d'Air settled in mid-division as Petit Mouchoir set the pace, and moved into contention after the fifth flight.
After tracking the leaders he went to the front approaching the final flight and drew clear to win by five lengths from My Tent Or Yours with The New One coming home in third.
[17] Only three horses took the field against the champion in the Christmas Hurdle at Kempton Park Racecourse 24 days later and The New One was the only one of the trio given any serious chance of causing an upset.
He was immediately joined by Melon and the pair engaged in a sustained struggle up the straight before Buveur d'Air gained the advantage in the final strides and prevailed by a neck.
He led for most of the way before accelerating away from his rivals on the run in and winning by two lengths from Vision des Flos, having been eased down by Geraghty in the final strides.
[23] At the Cheltenham Festival, Buveur d'Air attempted to emulate Hatton's Grace, Sir Ken, Persian War, See You Then and Istabraq by winning the Champion Hurdle for the third time.
[24] Buveur d'Air began the season with an attempt to win the Fighting Fifth Hurdle for the third year running but was beaten a short head by Cornerstone Lad.
Partnered by Nico de Boinville (as Barry Geraghty had retired), he started 8/11 favourite of three runners in the Champion Hurdle Trial Race at Haydock but could manage only second place, beaten four and a quarter lengths by Navajo Pass.
"[26] In the event, Buveur d'Air missed Cheltenham and his next race was the Aintree Hurdle, where he came fourth of eleven runners, having been hampered by a loose horse three out when in the lead.