Ashley Brook strikes as Sporazene comes a cropper
It was far from certain that Sporazene would have troubled the winner in any case, as when he crashed out at the third-last in the williamhillcasino.com Novices' Chase Ashley Brook was several lengths clear and showing no signs of stopping.
Trainer Kevin Bishop does not want his 9-1 shot to run before he can walk and is content to aim him at another ordinary novice event before raising his sights.
The Bridgwater trainer said: "He was a bit of a lunatic on the gallops last year but has grown up a bit, and although I don't think you could say he would definitely have won, Sporazene still had a lot of ground to make up when he came down."
Paul Nicholls was looking on the bright side despite Sporazene's mishap.
"He's absolutely fine," he said. "He was in a little bit of no-man's land on his own. I think we'll go to Cheltenham now, re-school him and take our chance.
"He'll learn from that. That's what novice chasing is all about they've got to learn."
The meeting was a mixed bag for favourite backers, with odds-on Escompteur falling in the opening William Hill 0800 44 40 40 Novices' Hurdle.
Escompteur was five lengths clear and travelling strongly when he slithered on landing at the second-last flight, leaving Loup Charter to spring a 14-1 surprise for the Henrietta Knight/Jim Culloty combination.
Chilling Place redressed the balance when justifying 10-11 favouritism in the williamhill.co.uk 'National Hunt' Novices' Hurdle, Richard Johnson's mount drawing six lengths clear of the promising Chef Tartare on the run-in.
It is hard to keep Martin Pipe out of the argument at this venue and Tresor De Mai (12-1) duly obliged for the champion trainer, but only after a terrific struggle with Fox In The Box in the williamhillpoker.com Handicap Chase, in which he scored by a short head under Tony McCoy.
There was a serious sting in the tail for McCoy, however, as he picked up a one-day ban for his use of the whip.
The infringement means he will be out of action on Paddy Power Gold Cup day at Cheltenham on Saturday week.
There was compensation for Fox In The Box's jockey Andrew Thornton when he judged the pace of the William Hill Freephone Telephone Betting Handicap Hurdle to perfection on top-weight Igloo D'Estruval (11-2).
The combination looked in trouble early in the home straight, but Thornton was only biding his time and collared Called To The Bar at the final flight before going on to a two-length victory.
Mark Johnston's horses are still firing on all cylinders as the turf Flat season draws to a close and the Middleham trainer proved the point by saddling a 72-1 treble at Catterick yesterday.
McEldowney, Lady Karr and Go Padero were all ridden by Joe Fanning.
