Nicky Henderson’s faith in Altior has never wavered, to judge from his public comments about the horse in recent weeks, but that did not spare him from pre-race nerves when his star returned to action here. As ever with this horse, there was a moment of serious concern within the last half-mile, but in the end he won tidily and the relief among those close to him was palpable.

After all, this was Altior’s first run since his unbeaten record over obstacles was killed off by Cyrname at Ascot in November. He looked very tired as the saddle was dragged off him that day but in the long term that defeat has probably taken nothing more out of him than any of his wins.

It may, on the other hand, have taken a significant toll on his trainer. Henderson was evidently aggrieved by the media’s willingness to doubt Altior following a single defeat in a difficult combination of circumstances. “All of a sudden, he’s no longer the horse he was and everyone’s trying to put him down,” he noted. “It’s a weird world. He’s still the same Altior to me.”

This Game Spirit Chase revealed that he is indeed the same Altior, down to his familiar habit of hitting a flat spot at a late stage. Having been sent off at odds of 1-3, he briefly brushed up against even-money on Betfair’s exchange, presumably around the time Nico de Boinville began to push him along from the second-last fence, when he was fourth of the five still in the race.

De Boinville even used his whip a couple of times after the last but that was all that was needed to send Altior into overdrive. Having seemed in trouble, he was suddenly clear and he had a shade over three lengths to spare at the line, with Sceau Royal plugging on in second.

“It will have done his confidence the world of good,” was Henderson’s instant verdict. “It was not nice at Ascot and it took a lot of getting over.”

De Boinville said: “His turn of foot from the last to the line was devastating. I think he’s still slightly feeling the effects of that [foot] abscess from Christmas but it’s more a confidence issue than anything else. His jumping will get slicker, so there’s plenty more to come.”

Despite all last year’s talk of Altior needing to be stepped up in trip, he holds just one entry for next month’s Festival, in the Queen Mother Champion Chase, which he has won for the last two years.

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From a punter’s perspective, it is pleasing to be spared having to fret over which Cheltenham race is really his target, an issue with so many other horses just now, and perhaps that helps to explain the market enthusiasm for him in the wake of this success that made him 2-1 for the Champion Chase with most firms.

But this victory, while comforting for those close to him, was surely not so impressive as to scare off his rivals. Defi Du Seuil holds an alternative entry in the Ryanair but his impressive acceleration, if deployed at about the same time as Altior’s flat spot, would set up a thrilling finish in the Champion Chase.

Half an hour later, Native River was another odds-on favourite who did his Cheltenham prospects no harm with a tidy success in the Denman, on ground a shade faster than he really enjoys. He used the same race as a prep when winning the Gold Cup two years ago and connections are clearly hoping to perform the same trick but what they still need is enough rain to make the going heavy on the big day.

At any rate, this was an enjoyable moment for the jockey Jonjo O’Neill Jr, deputising for the injured Richard Johnson, who is expected to be back in the saddle next month.

Pic D’Orhy, the 33-1 winner of the Betfair Hurdle, will probably not show up at Cheltenham, since Paul Nicholls is minded to look after him on the way to a really exciting future over fences. But he pointed out that the horse must now be close to Champion Hurdle class, having won this under a big weight, and a supplementary entry is not out of the question.

The Betfair was full of incident, with the fancied Never Adapt taking a knock and being pulled up early on, while several horses were involved in a pile-up at the last. Thankfully, all of them were said by course officials to have escaped serious injury and there will hopefully be good news in time about Never Adapt, who was taken to a nearby veterinary centre.