THE Altior hype is understandable. Champions are to be celebrated.

Nicky Henderson’s horse looked mighty good again in the Tingle Creek Chase at Sandown on Saturday. He made a mistake at the second fence, the ditch in front of the stands. He took off miles away from the fence. But he managed to land on the landing side, not on the fence, and that was really the only scare. Even when Nico de Boinville niggled him along a little at the Pond Fence, even when he came under pressure at the second last fence, you always expected that he would get the better of wizened warrior Un De Sceaux.