The New Lion (3-1) extended his unbeaten run to five with an impressive win from The Yellow Clay in the Turners Novices’ Hurdle.
Jockey Harry Skelton triumphed for trainer brother Dan to seal an 80th Festival victory for owner JP McManus, who bought the horse earlier this year.
“He’s a phenomenal horse and I’ve never had one like this,” said Dan of The New Lion, who is around a 7-1 shot for next year’s Champion Hurdle.
Lecky Watson was guided by Sean O’Keeffe to a surprise 20-1 triumph in the Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase for Willie Mullins.
Stablemate Ballyburn was sent off the warm favourite but he never recovered from a major blunder at the seventh fence.
Another Mullins outsider, the 16-1 chance Jimmy Du Seuil, won the Coral Cup under the trainer’s nephew Danny. The winner had finished 13 lengths second to Ballyburn as a novice hurdler at Cheltenham last year.
The 5-2 favourite Stumptown stayed on best of all to win the Cross Country Chase for jockey Keith Donoghue and trainer Gavin Cromwell. Latenightpass was second with Vanillier third, having earlier nearly led the whole field down the wrong route.
