Azertyuiop en route to Game Spirit glory (Getty).

By

Azerytuiop's connections will head to Cheltenham next month brimming with confidence after the eight-year-old outjumped and outgunned Well Chief to take the totepool Game Spirit Chase at Newbury on Saturday.

After a mistake at the fifth fence, Timmy Murphy was always fighting a losing game on Well Chief as he fought to get back into his rival's slipstream.

And while Well Chief was sloppy a couple of times, the winner put in a virtually faultless display of jumping under Ruby Walsh.

With trainer Paul Nicholls warning that last year's Queen Mother Champion Chase hero was lacking peak fitness as part of his preparation for back-to-back victories, punters were in a quandary as to who to send off favourite for the £60,000 prize.

But they just about got it right as Azertyuiop was returned the 11-10 favourite, just ahead of 5-4 chance Well Chief.

Azertyuiop was always travelling well behind pacesetter Mister McGoldrick and although Well Chief tried to close on the home turn, the eventual winner was going much the best of the three.

Mister McGoldrick soon found the pace too hot and dropped away, leaving the big two to battle it out.

But even a tired jump at the last did not make any difference to the result, Azertyuiop digging deep to win by two and a half lengths, with his stablemate Armaturk a distant third.

"Ruby has kept saying to me that we didn't want to have him right before the big day, and I'm absolutely delighted with that - it was just the job," Nicholls said.

"He was heavy today, just as I had been telling everyone. He's had a little blow after the last but I've got five or six kilos left, just to tighten him up.

"I do think that going left-handed helps him a little bit, too."

Walsh added: "He got in a bit deep there (at the last). He was possibly getting a bit tired and I didn't want to give him a kick and put him on the floor.

"Definitely the better, faster ground at Cheltenham would suit him."

Bookmakers pushed out Well Chief in the betting for the Champion Chase, Cashmans going longest at 7-2, while Azertyuiop disputes favouritism with Moscow Flyer (totesport offering the biggest price of 9-4).

But despite the views of the layers, Martin Pipe was far from despondent over Well Chief's performance and said: "He has still run a good race, but I'm sure he prefers Cheltenham.

"He made a mistake early on when he left his legs behind, which didn't help him, and he lost a bit of confidence.

"He's tough. The winner was stopping at the end, but Cheltenham's a different story."

Nicholls, too, was left looking forward to what should be a marvellous contest at the Festival.

"It's going to be a fantastic race," he said. "I hope we can beat Moscow Flyer, but I wouldn't rule out Well Chief as he probably had a bit of a hard race a fortnight ago, and it might just have left its mark."