Cheltenham needs the underdogs to thrive - and here are three potential dark horses

The special appeal of the Cheltenham Festival over the years has had two main strands. At the top there are the signature performances that are part of jump racing folklore, produced by giants such as Arkle, Desert Orchid and Kauto Star, and many will be hoping for something of that ilk from Constitution Hill this year.

The superstars are the big headline-makers, but there is a second important strand to the roll of honour. As much as festival goers recall the legends, they also remember with great affection the supposedly lesser lights such as Willie Wumpkins who have shone bright on the big stage.

At the top end, which is fast becoming a closed shop, we may never again see underdog heroes like Norton’s Coin and Danoli fighting it out for the big championships. A damning statistic is that in the past five years almost 80 per cent of the festival’s Grade 1 races have been shared among just five trainers – Willie Mullins, Nicky Henderson, Henry de Bromhead, Gordon Elliott and Paul Nicholls.