Joyeuse soared to victory at Newbury to keep in the William Hill Hurdle trophy in the yard of Nicky Henderson.
The grey is from the family of Epatante and like that mare is owned by JP McManus, for whom Henderson and Nico de Boinville combined to win this race last season with Iberico Lord.
That horse was part of the line up once again, but De Boinville opted to ride Joyeuse and she went off a 9-2 chance under a favourable weight.
She thrived in a fast-paced race on soft ground, bursting clear in the final stages and crossing the line at a canter when eight lengths ahead of Sam Thomas's Lump Sum.
"She's good and she looked really good there, she travelled well, jumped well and did everything right," said Henderson.
"She’s bolted up, really and you have to say she was in the perfect position the whole way. It was just perfection and everywhere you looked it all seemed very straightforward.
"The step back in trip has suited her well and this was a true-run two miles and I think a bit of cut in the ground has helped as well.
"She can’t go to a Cheltenham Festival handicap as she needs another run to get in and I’m hardly going to run her again between now and Cheltenham. She’s only had four runs over hurdles and she needs another to run in a handicap.
"It’s caused a dilemma but it’s a good problem."
Master Chewy was not for beating when rewarding the patience of his connections with success in the William Hill Best Odds Guaranteed Game Spirit Chase.
The eight-year-old is trained by Nigel Twiston-Davies and was ridden by his son Sam as an 11-1 shot for the Grade Two assignment that had been an intended target for Nicky Henderson's unbeaten Sir Gino.
The latter horse was a non-runner and the complexion of the race therefore changed, something Master Chewy took full advantage of when prevailing for the first time since 2023 with a length-and-a-quarter victory over Libberty Hunter.
Matata, a stablemate of the winner, was sent off the 11-8 favourite and he was in charge turning for home before the field started to close in on him.
He jumped the last in front but slightly drifted on the run to the line, handing the initiative to the game Master Chewy who stayed on all the way to break his winless run.
His trainer said: "He’s got some smashing form and he’s got some really good form. Things haven’t always gone his way and he’s been beaten by horses coming up the handicap, but it was a superb run.
"He was giving weight to Matata and he did a lovely job. The funny thing is every time they have raced against each other, Master Chewy has almost always beaten Matata. The only time it didn’t happen was when he fell in the Arkle and they are both lovely horses and you can never split them.
"Master Chewy was always going to run on and finish strong and probably needs further – perhaps we will run him in a Ryanair. I will talk to the experts but the Ryanair could be easier than the Champion Chase."
Djelo scrapped to a tough success in the William Hill Bet10 Get10 On Racing Denman Chase.
Venetia Williams' bay was the 6-4 favourite under Charlie Deutsch in a field of seven for the Grade Two event run over a trip just shy of three miles.
The gelding thrived on the soft going and clearly also enjoyed the extended distance on his first attempt, settled in the early stages by Deutsch before assuming control of the race with two fences to jump.
Djelo got a bit close to the final obstacle but ultimately had plenty in hand and came home three and a half lengths clear of Hitman, who was finishing second in the race for a third successive year.
His Paul Nicholls-trained stablemate Bravemansgame kept on for third, beaten a further six and a half lengths.
Williams said: "A week ago we were running in the Game Spirit and it was only 15 minutes before entries closed that I took a look what was in the Denman and thought 'we need to be in there as well’.
"We’ve got him in the Ryanair and we’ve got him in the Champion Chase but not the Gold Cup and there are no regrets about that at all. I would say he would go to the Ryanair now. He’s a King George horse for next season. He’s got better with maturity and it will be straight to Cheltenham now.
"He’s quite a headstrong horse and you have to be forgiving and I think an element of Windsor was not so much him but Protektorat, because he was brilliant.
"Protektorat was ridden with enormous restraint when we beat him at Huntingdon in the Peterborough Chase and we got well away from him, but the same thing happened the other way round at Windsor, the boot was on the other foot.
"We were scratching our heads over tactics and Peter (Davies, owner) and I left it down to Charlie to make up his mind down at the start.
"We didn’t want him being too keen, so he dropped him right out and he settled beautifully, almost to the point that when they turned for home I was wondering when Charlie was going to set him alight. When he did the turbo came in very quickly."
