Kicking off a series of articles counting down to the Cheltenham Festival next month, Norton trainer Brian Ellison tells Turf Talk how he is banking on youth to break his duck on jump racing’s biggest stage.

IF you believe the old adage about good things happening in threes, then a wager on Brian Ellison recording a first winner at the Cheltenham Festival in a couple of weeks time could seem like a smart move.

First came the maiden Grade 1 win when Marsh Warbler took the Finale Hurdle at Chepstow 13 months ago, before Europe’s richest Flat handicap was retained in Yorkshire hands when Moyenne Corniche won the Ebor Handicap at York last summer.

A Prestbury Park winner is the next box to tick on the hit-list at Spring Cottage Stables.

It is a prize that has tantalised and tortured Ellison in the past, most notably when Latalomne twice floundered in the Queen Mother Champion Chase, in 2002 and 2003, with the race looking at his mercy.

Bothy almost got there last year, only to find Carlito Brigante too tough a nut to crack up the hill in the Coral Cup, and it is to young pretenders that Ellison now turns to grab that elusive Festival success.

He hopes to be mob-handed in the Fred Winter Juvenile Novices’ Hurdle, with Royal Opera, Artisan, Mahfal and Red Inca, while Lifetime, depending on what happens today at Wolverhampton, could also line up in the JCB Triumph Hurdle.

“I keep saying that everyone would like to have a winner at Cheltenham, but it’s very hard to have one,” Ellison said. “The big yards, the Hendersons and the Nicholls, seem to control it. If we can sneak into some of the handicaps then we have got a good chance.

“The main chances this year will be with the juveniles. I think they are good. There is the likes of Royal Opera, who is hard, jumps well and is similar to Bothy in that he will jump and gallop.

“He was beaten into second in a handicap at Leicester, against older horses, but the only reason we ran him was to get him a bit more battle hardy. He came up against a horse that’s now won three in a row in Grams And Ounces.

“We thought Royal Opera would win straight away and he just got beaten at Aintree.

“The next time, we dropped him in at Bangor, and Danny (Cook, jockey) thought he was looking at too many horses so, next time, we made a run and he won. He has got better and with experience he is getting better.

“Artisan, who won a Flat race at Southwell on Tuesday under Dale Swift, should get in off a rating of 118. He ran first time out at Huntingdon and he choked so we had his wind done.

“He would have won at Wetherby and was cantering when he got jumped into. Red Inca is also starting to shine.

“You need a horse that is well handicapped to win the Fred Winter and that’s why we are protecting them.

“Lifetime is a quality horse, 70+ on the Flat, who has taken to hurdling. He ran once on the Flat for us when he finished second but he is improving loads. He’s working well, has schooled really well and he is entered in the Triumph Hurdle. He has got plenty of ability.”

That Ellison is targeting the juvenile classes is not an accident. Buoyed by the success of Marsh Warbler last season, his owners Dan Gilbert and Kristian Strangeway set their stall out to buy young quality horses.

Marsh Warbler, still only five, also inspires confidence and would be helped by a glut of rain.

“The key to him is soft ground,” Ellison explains. “He came back really sore after running in the Supreme Novices’ last year and had pulled a few muscles in his back. It just took him a while to get over it. We gave him a long time off and he came back and won at Southwell.

“He’ll definitely get an entry. It will probably be the Coral Cup. When you talk about Cheltenham, you have to look at things on the day because the ground dries so quickly. So it will be the night before, or even on the morning. It could be soft three or four days before, and then end up being good ground.

“He was put up two pounds for finishing fifth at Ascot, which is crackers.

“Abergavenny will be in the Coral Cup or the Martin Pipe. He went to Newbury for the Betfair Hurdle (and finished ninth). He has always run well there. He finished third in the Greatwood at Cheltenham recently and proved he is good enough to go there. He’s a very good horse.”

“Potentially, I have got a lot going to Cheltenham – if they all get in the handicaps,” Ellison continued. “Abergavenny will get in, hopefully Artisan, Bocciani is rated 127 over hurdles so he will have an entry in the Martin Pipe.

“Stormy Weather, who won the Scottish County Hurdle at Musselburgh, will have an entry in the County. He also won well at Newcastle and has loads and loads of ability, while Ultimate will go for the Grand Annual and Dontpaytheferryman, three times a winner at Musselburgh in the last month, could also go for the County.

“I’ve only got 30-odd jumpers. It’s not bad is it?

“Dan lives in Cheltenham, he buys them to go there and hopes they can get there. I think I have got a chance in the Fred Winter. Juveniles are quite competitive and I like Artisan. So why not?”