BEN PAULING confirmed the JLT Chase was “very much the target” for Willoughby Court after the six-year-old held off the late surge of Yanworth to land the Grade 2 Ladbrokes Novices’ Chase, the old Berkshire Chase, over two and a half miles at Newbury yesterday.

Yanworth, a very high-class hurdler, had something to prove after falling at Exeter on his previous run but was still sent off at 10/11 favourite. He jumped a little better this time but it was Cheltenham Festival winner Willoughby Court (15/8), a winner on his chasing debut at Huntingdon, who went on at the eighth.