ALAN King did very well indeed in the opening weeks of the season and, even though Philip Hobbs overshadowed everyone last week, the master of Barbury Castle was still on the scoresheet with Uxizandre in the Listed Shloer Chase over two miles.

Owned by J.P. McManus, the winner stays further but a series of fluent jumps for Geraghty meant he always had his five rivals at full stretch.

Sent off at 15/8 favourite, he was driven soon after the last and saw it out well, holding Simply Ned by nearly two lengths with Paul Nicholls’ Dodging Bullets not finding a great deal on the climb to the line.

“The trip doesn’t seem to matter and he’s won over three,” King said. “But he does need to go left-handed and we may go to Leopardstown over Christmas with him. Whether it’s the Queen Mother Champion Chase or the Ryanair I don’t know at this stage but it’s a nice problem to have.”

Nicky Henderson has known better meetings but the grey Vyta Du Roc landed the Grade 2 Sky Bet Supreme Novices Trial Novices’ Hurdle. This was a good effort because he was conceding 7lb to Paul Nicholls’ 11/10 favourite Emerging Talent, who went down by a neck as the others, headed by Pyromaniac, were left behind.

A French-bred grey five-year-old, Vyta Du Roc (3/1) took a few knocks on the way round and Barry Geraghty sensibly gave him time before renewing his challenge.

Emerging Talent led and was two lengths to the good at the last but could not hold on as the winner, seeming to need every yard of two miles, wore him down close home. Henderson was suitably relieved.

“Some of ours just aren’t seeing it out at the moment and for a minute I thought it was going to be the same again,” he said. “Barry thinks two and a half miles will suit, but really he’s a chaser in the making.” The layers go along with that assessment and Vyta Du Roc can be backed at 33/1 for the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle.

Like his father before him, David Pipe is a dab hand at laying horses out for a specific task after a rest and giving young riders a chance into the bargain. After his double on Sunday, punters made Unique De Cotte 7/2 favourite in the opening Brian Kilpatrick Conditional Jockeys’ Handicap Hurdle and Kieron Edgar got him home by a neck from 20/1 chance Dark Spirit.

It was a good effort because he slipped on the home bend but responded to pressure to get up close home.

The race honoured long-time Pipe supporter Brian Kilpatrick, who died suddenly of a heart attack in May. He first went racing at Cheltenham as long ago as 1958 and his best horses included the very popular Sabin Du Loir.

“He was a real gentleman of racing, loved his horses and never complained,” Martin Pipe said. Interestingly, and perhaps surprisingly, Unique De Cotte was the first winner David Pipe has trained for J.P. McManus.

Henderson could not make it a double with disappointing 13/8 favourite Birch Hill in the bumper, victory going to 2/1 market rival Definitly Red in the hands of, inevitably it seemed, Richard Johnson.

This seventh victory over three days was the first not trained by Philip Hobbs, the winning handler being Steve Gollings.

‘Class’ is hard to define but the winner had finished seventh in the Champion Bumper in March, which was good enough for many backers. It was certainly good enough for Definitly Red, who came home nearly five lengths in front of Arabic History and now goes hurdling.

** RECORD ATTENDANCE

The total attendance over the three days of the Open meeting set a new record of 71,640, an increase of 304 on last year. The Saturday crowd was the biggest ever at 35,681.