'It was my first festival winner and it was like a dream come true'

A gelding named after a gunslinger – Cole Harden is the character played by Gary Cooper in the film The Westerner – took the ranks of staying hurdlers by storm two seasons ago, winning the three-mile championship in exhilarating style. Last season he was firing blanks, but the front-running eight-year-old has returned to form this winter and is primed to have another shot at the crown next month.

THE FIRST STEPS

Cole Harden won a bumper for trainer Brian Storey on his debut in March 2013 before being sold and moving south. He won another bumper before showing considerable promise in novice hurdles.