Lacdoudal wins test of stamina
The Philip Hobbs-trained gelding (3-1) took up the running before halfway and drew the sting from his rivals as he steadily increased the pace under Richard Johnson.
My Will and El Vaquero looked dangerous on the run to the second-last fence, but the leader found more than both those rivals up the run-in and stayed on to win by six lengths, with My Will rallying to regain second spot in the final strides.
Sixth in the Paddy Power Gold Cup last time out, the slower pace here seemed to suit Lacdoudal much better.
And with options over this trip now clearly open to the grey, a quick reappearance in next Saturday's Robin Cook Memorial Gold Cup at Cheltenham is under consideration.
"We'll have to see how he comes out of this, but if the top weights stay in then he only has 10st 9lb so it would be a possibility," said owner Roger Skan.
"I need to have a chat with Philip about it, but now that we know he stays three miles it does make things easier.
"Paddy Brennan said they just went too quick for him at Cheltenham last time but he got into a lovely rhythm today."
Paul Nicholls claimed the training honours with a double as Spidam and Neptune Collonges sealed bloodless victories in the rain-softened conditions.
After a patchy start to the campaign, the form of the Nicholls team has picked up in recent weeks and Spidam maintained the momentum when scoring at 6-4 in the Celia Blaker 80th Birthday Juvenile Novices' Hurdle.
Stretching clear from the second-last flight, Barry Geraghty's mount was eased close home but still finished 20 lengths clear of runner-up Kanpai.
"A lot of his rivals today were ex-Flat horses and I think we just handled the conditions better than them," said Nicholls.
Bookmakers issued a 33-1 quote about the gelding for next March's Triumph Hurdle, but Nicholls suggested that contest was unlikely to be on the agenda.
"He's a chaser through and through and there's no fancy plans for him over hurdles," he said. "He's the sort of horse who you would want to look after with an eye to the future."
Nicholls always seems to take a long-term view when he has a winner these days and he was not about to buck the trend after Neptune Collonges took the William Hill Winter Novices' Hurdle.
Revelling in the conditions, Geraghty simply kept turning on the tap from the front and pulled away from his rivals in the straight to beat Massini's Maguire by a distance.
Well-backed Percussionist ground to a virtual halt in the conditions and was pulled up by Graham Lee as he ambled towards the second-last a furlong behind the 6-4 winner.
Henrietta Knight's Harris Bay continued to reap the benefit of a breathing operation as he made it two from two for the season in taking the williamhillcasino.com Novices' Handicap Chase.
As leader King Coal tired on the home turn, Timmy Murphy sent the 9-4 favourite to the front and they stayed on up the hill to hold the late challenge of Supreme Tadgh by three lengths.
"I think that ground is very testing Timmy said it was heavy and I would like to run him on something quicker as deep ground isn't always ideal for horses that have had breathing problems," said Knight.
Latimer's Place defied top-weight to take the Christine and Pete Harris Family Remembered Handicap Chase under conditional Paul O'Neill.
With market principals Rudolf Rassendeyll and Boy's Hurrah running disappointingly, the winner's task was made somewhat easier.
But he still delighted connections as he beat Gray's Eulogy by 10 lengths.
"He has had all sorts of problems and it's great to see him back to his best," said trainer Jonathan Geake's father-in-law Toby Balding.
"I trained him to win the EBF Final here and he loves the track. We might have to look at coming back for the Agfa Diamond Chase in a couple of months' time."
The concluding Faucets for Grohe National Hunt Novices' Hurdle went to It's A Dream, who made a winning bow over obstacles for Nicky Henderson and Mick Fitzgerald.
It's A Dream earned a quote of 25-1 from Paddy Power for the Royal & SunAlliance Hurdle.
