Trainer Max Comley is looking to the future with confidence.

He took out his National Hunt trainer’s licence at the end of November and is hoping to kick on over the next few months.

Comley, who is based at Summerhill Farm in Naunton, enjoyed plenty of success as a point-to-point trainer.

He finished third in last season’s national point-to-point championship, training 23 winners and enjoying a strike rate of 37 per cent. He also had a placed horses strike rate of 78 per cent.

“We’re still waiting for that elusive first winner under Rules but it will come,” Comley told The Local Answer. “We’ve got lots of young horses and they’re fit and well.

“We know it will take time and we are under no illusions, we knew this year would be tough.”

Comley, who has 25 horses training under Rules, has certainly come close to getting off the mark, most notably when Just Her Type was beaten by a shorthead in a novices’ hurdle over two-and-a-half miles at Ayr at the start of the month.

Conditional jockey Tom Broughton was on board that day and Comley is also able to call on the services of the experienced David Bass and Liam Harrison, an up-and-coming jockey.

Bass, who has ridden close to 600 winners over the years, is a big fan of Comley.

“He’s a really good trainer,” he said. “He works really hard and is very driven.

“It’s exciting but it’s so tough, it’s so competitive, it’s very hard to find a good horse.

“But it’s a nice yard and he has a good team of staff, he’ll do well.”

Comley, meanwhile, is on the lookout for new owners.

“Whether it’s a syndicate, sole ownership or partnership, we can accommodate all levels of ownership,” he said.