McNeill: Triumph hope Tritonic has the right profile to break my festival duck

Owner Max McNeill is hoping unbeaten hurdler Tritonic can end his Triumph Hurdle hoodoo and believes he has the "right profile" to secure him a landmark first Cheltenham Festival victory, although there is the small matter of his prep run at Kempton this weekend first.

McNeill has suffered narrow defeats in the Triumph with Walkon finishing second in 2009 and Grumeti third in 2012, while Mille Chief was the ante-post favourite for the race in 2010 before suffering an injury less than a month before the race.

However, McNeill is relishing the prospect of tackling the contest again and will attempt to gain that elusive festival victory with the Alan King-trained Tritonic, who will take in either the Adonis or Dovecote Novices' Hurdle on Saturday in a bid to extend his perfect record over hurdles following a last-gasp victory at Ascot in January.