very well and he’s supported me in my career. We had a bit of a blip, but everybody does.”

Winning trainer Henry de Bromhead said: “To beat Un De Sceaux, who is one of the best around, is something special.

“I thought our chances of upsetting him were slipping when he took up the running. But my horse got such a cool ride off Davy. He got into such a lovely rhythm and his jumping was brilliant.”

Mullins had no excuses for Un De Sceaux. “He was a little exuberant, but I think the winner won very well,” he said. “We can’t have any complaints as our horse ran very well.”

Cue Card, also a past winner of the race, was pulled up after making the early running for a mile, suggesting retirement is imminent.

Colin Tizzard, his trainer, said: “It was sad to see Cue Card stop so quickly. We will make a decision about his future in the next couple of days.”

Shattered Love opened O’Leary and trainer Gordon Elliott’s account when taking the JLT Novices’ Chase in the hands of Jack Kennedy.

Receiving the mares’ 7lb allowance, Shattered Love made use of the concession to gallop seven lengths clear of Terrefort and third-placed Benatar.

“She’s built like a gelding, huge and a great jumper,” said O’Leary.

Elliott, the most successful trainer at last year’s Festival, was back in the winner’s enclosure 40 minutes later, as was O’Leary, when Delta Work took the Pertemps Network Final.

Given a masterful ride by Russell, Delta Work outgunned Glenloe and Barry Geraghty to land the spoils by a nose.

“I thought it was very close,” said Russell. “I thought I was going to win but it was nip and tuck and just a matter of a bob of the head, really.”