The Cheltenham Festival needs another fairytale - so who could be this year's Coneygree or Norton's Coin?
Can it still happen? The Cheltenham Festival nowadays is dominated by top trainers and owners, but is there still room for a fairytale success at the meeting?
Back in the day there was a horse called Willie Wumpkins, who was trained by permit-holder Jane Pilkington to win three consecutive Pertemps Finals (or Coral Golden Hurdle as it was then) between 1979 and 1981, his last victory coming at the age of 13.
Willie Wumpkins had won the Turners Novices' Hurdle in 1973 (when it was called the Aldsworth Hurdle) when trained in Ireland, but subsequently developed heart issues – a leaky valve that sounded like "the Cornish Riviera pulling out of Paddington", according to Pilkington's husband. He was transferred to Pilkington's Cotswolds yard and was gradually rehabilitated by his owner-trainer.
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