Paul Nicholls has best Cheltenham Festival team since Kauto Star days

• Champion trainer will be double-handed in three feature races

• Handler has drawn blank in Grade One races for last two years

Paul Nicholls, Britain’s champion trainer over jumps, said on Tuesday that he feels his team for this year’s Cheltenham Festival is the strongest he has sent to the meeting since the days when his outstanding champions Kauto Star, Denman and Master Minded dominated their opponents.

Nicholls is second only to Nicky Henderson among current trainers in terms of the number of winners he has sent out at the Festival, but he has not won a steeplechase at the meeting since Kauto Star took the Gold Cup in 2009. Nicholls has also drawn a blank in the Grade One events at the last two Festivals, returning to his Ditcheat base with only a single success in a handicap hurdle each time.

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source Sport | The Guardian http://ift.tt/1JI3e4x