Dipper dreaming: the search for a Cheltenham Festival star starts here

The passage from the old year into the new is reason enough for most of us to take an extra hour in bed and perhaps emerge into January with slightly bleary eyes.

However, don't wait under the duvet for too long as January 1 has proved to be as reliable a guide as any date in the calendar when it comes to unearthing winners at the Cheltenham Festival.

In particular, the first of ITV's four televised races from Prestbury Park, the Paddy Power Novices' Chase (1.20) – or to use its registered name, the Dipper – has an enviable record as a source of March gold, with six festival winners contesting the race in the nine runnings since 2014.