Marcel - beaten at Exeter.

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Marcel suffered a shock defeat at Exeter on Sunday as his conqueror My Way De Solzen emerged as a serious contender for the Letheby & Christopher Supreme Novices' Hurdle at next month's Cheltenham Festival.

Beaten six and three-quarter lengths into fifth when Marcel won the Grade One Tolworth Hurdle last month, My Way De Solzen emphatically reversed the Sandown form as he stormed home in the totesport Novices' Hurdle.

He powered away to score by 27 lengths from Give Me Love as the long odds-on Marcel weakened to finish a further 11 lengths back in third.

Robert Thornton decided to ensure it was a truly-run race by setting a brisk pace on the 3-1 winner, and Marcel was in trouble early in the straight.

My Way De Solzen was cut to 12-1 from 33-1 by William Hill for the Supreme Novices as Marcel drifted to 8-1 from 6-1. Justified is the firm's new favourite at 7-1.

Trainer Alan King said: "We know he handles the soft and my gut feeling is that we should stick to two miles at Cheltenham, though I would like to see some juice in the ground before going there."

Martin Pipe was perplexed over the lack-lustre performance of Marcel, who had won nine of his previous 10 starts for the champion trainer.

He said: "I don't know what went wrong and neither does Timmy (Murphy). Apart from the fact that it's horrible ground, I have no excuse for him."