Vaughan finally welcomes back first Cheltenham winner as Dancer steps to it

There may be a few more grey hairs on Tim Vaughan’s head than when he started training but he dumped a big weight off his shoulders after Master Dancer became his first ever Cheltenham winner when coming from off the pace to take the 2m5f handicap hurdle.

A thoroughly ecstatic Vaughan said: “We've had 151 previous runners at the course but no winners until now, so it’s obviously a big hoodoo out of the way. It might well take some time to sink in as I thought it might never come.

“Of course everybody wants winners here, which makes it all the more difficult, but I think we have had three seconds at the festival and about 17 outside of that meeting – to say it’s been frustrating is something of an understatement.”