Coltherds set for the most famous hill of all with Captain Redbeard

When Captain Redbeard lines up in the Close Brothers Novices' Handicap Chase at Cheltenham on Tuesday he will not just be a first runner at the festival for Stuart and Sam Coltherd. Nor is the eight-year-old chestnut merely their first runner at Cheltenham. As the father and son team unload their charge from the horsebox next week it will be the first time either of them has set foot in the hallowed arena in which legends are made.

"I've never been to the place before!" exclaims 50-year-old Stuart, who trains 21 horses and tends to 1,500 sheep and 70 cattle at Clarilawmuir Farm just outside Selkirk. The same goes for Sam who will be on board the general 20-1 chance.

Their first look at Cheltenham, dominated on one side by Cleeve Hill, will not be dissimilar to the family farm, on 1,500 picturesque acres overlooking the Borders' hills to the north east. In those surroundings realisation dawns why the stable has such a fine record at Hexham, where the undulating terrain provides a home from home for Coltherd's horses.