AN underrated maestro of the Turf or simply not as good at Cheltenham as anywhere else?

This is the conundrum facing punters on the final day of the Festival when Silviniaco Conti tries to make it third-time lucky in the Betfred Cheltenham Gold Cup.

For many, the nine-year-old, trained by Olveston-born Paul Nicholls, has never received the recognition he has deserved over the last few years.

After all, this is a horse who has claimed two King Georges, two Betfair Chases and a raft of other big-race victories in a decorated career.

Silviniaco Conti has, however, never won over the masses with any degree of velocity.

The reason for that is pretty simple - Nicholls' inmate has never won at the Festival nor, for that matter, at Cheltenham.

His record in the Gold Cup is also chequered at best.

A faller two years ago when travelling with the sort of sangfroid control associated with champions, the proverbial copybook was further blotted in the great race 12 months ago.

Having gained a definitive lead four fences from home, Silviniaco Conti looked the winner. But then, suddenly and dramatically, it all went wrong.

Jockey Noel Fehily could no nothing as the chestnut gelding went AWOL, wandering across the track like a hapless punter chasing a winning betting slip caught in the breeze.

Within a handful of painful strides, momentum and initiative had gone as Lord Windermere charged clear late in the piece to win by a short head in one of the messiest Gold Cups for decades.

That Silviniaco Conti ended up finishing fourth, admittedly beaten just under two lengths, is as incredulous now as it was then.

Nicholls, though, is unsurprisingly proud to keep the faith in a horse who, Cheltenham aside, has beautifully filled the void left from Ditcheat's golden era of Denman, Kauto Star and Big Buck's.

"He's been unlucky at Cheltenham in the past," reasoned Nicholls.

"He ran well when beaten in the International Hurdle and he was travelling when he fell in the Gold Cup two years ago.

"Last year he jumped the last in front, but he was just not finishing his races.

"So we sorted out his gastric ulcers and the cheekpieces have got him jumping sharper."

Whether Silviniaco Conti has been unfortunate at Cheltenham is a tenuous claim, but Nicholls is on the money when it comes to the horse's noteworthy progress in the jumping department.

The five-times Grade One scorer fenced as if his hooves were filled with gold dust in the Betfair Chase at Haydock in November.

Indeed, the manner with which he grabbed the King George by the scruff of its neck on Boxing Day was a tell-tale sign of the confidence which now courses through his veins.

Be that as it may, Silviniaco Conti will never be as popular as Kauto Star, or have the old-school Hollywood charm of Denman.

No matter, Nicholls is convinced where he will belong in the opus of jumps racing if redemption for previous trespasses is gained on March 13.

He said: "If Silviniaco Conti wins a Gold Cup he will cement himself as one of the best."