Shortage of ammo means north is up against it in quest for overdue festival win

Six years have passed since the last northern-trained Cheltenham Festival winner and the prospects of ending the drought next month do not look particularly bright.

Not since Hawk High won the 2014 Fred Winter for Tim Easterby has a festival prize made its way north of Nottingham, and you have to go even further back for the last victory by a recognised northern jumps trainer.

That accolade belongs to the late Malcolm Jefferson, who landed the 2012 Martin Pipe with Attaglance. To highlight the extent to which times have changed, Attaglance was actually the north's third festival success in a single afternoon, following on from Countrywide Flame (John Quinn) in the Triumph and Brindisi Breeze (Lucinda Russell) in the Albert Bartlett. And that was not the extent of it.