Joyeuse romps to victory at Newbury for Nicky Henderson and Nico de Boinville

Joyeuse soared to victory at Newbury to keep in the William Hill Hurdle trophy in the yard of Nicky Henderson.

The grey is from the family of Epatante and like that mare is owned by JP McManus, for whom Henderson and Nico de Boinville combined to win this race last season with Iberico Lord.

That horse was part of the line up once again, but De Boinville opted to ride Joyeuse and she went off a 9-2 chance under a favourable weight.

She thrived in a fast-paced race on soft ground, bursting clear in the final stages and crossing the line at a canter when eight lengths ahead of Sam Thomas's Lump Sum.

"She's good and she looked really good there, she travelled well, jumped well and did everything right," said Henderson.

"She’s bolted up, really and you have to say she was in the perfect position the whole way. It was just perfection and everywhere you looked it all seemed very straightforward.

"The step back in trip has suited her well and this was a true-run two miles and I think a bit of cut in the ground has helped as well.

"She can’t go to a Cheltenham Festival handicap as she needs another run to get in and I’m hardly going to run her again between now and Cheltenham. She’s only had four runs over hurdles and she needs another to run in a handicap.

"It’s caused a dilemma but it’s a good problem."

Master Chewy was not for beating when rewarding the patience of his connections with success in the William Hill Best Odds Guaranteed Game Spirit Chase.

The eight-year-old is trained by Nigel Twiston-Davies and was ridden by his son Sam as an 11-1 shot for the Grade Two assignment that had been an intended target for Nicky Henderson's unbeaten Sir Gino.

The latter horse was a non-runner and the complexion of the race therefore changed,