Medison (left) cruises past his rivals.

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Martin Pipe cast his spell over Sandown again as he took the Sunderlands Imperial Cup for the sixth time with 9-2 favourite Medison on Saturday - and now has Cheltenham in his sights.

Timmy Murphy's mount was stepping out of novice company for the first time but took the jump in class in his long, raking stride despite the competitive nature of the contest.

He cruised around in rear until making progress on the bridle up the straight, with Murphy stalking Fenix up to the last flight.

Once asked to quicken, Medison settled the issue in two strides to ease clear and score by three and a half lengths.

Fenix (12-1) came home six lengths ahead of Monte Cinto (14-1), who got the better of of a driving finish for third place with Crossbow Creek (10-1) by a head.

In the winner's enclosure, all the talk was of next week's Cheltenham meeting and the £60,000 bonus the sponsors offer for any horse who wins this race and follows up at the Festival.

Pipe has already landed the bonus twice, with Olympian in 1993 and Blowing Wind five years later.

And although he was playing down Medison's prospects in the two races in which he is entered - the Coral Cup and the County Hurdle - bookmakers were not taking any chances.

Ladbrokes offer the five-year-old at just 5-2 for the Coral Cup, while Coral intially went 5-1 after the race but were forced to go to 4s, the same price as Paddy Power, who then promptly cut him to 3s.

This is the price on offer with Victor Chandler and William Hill, while Totesport go 7-2.

Medison needs 19 horses to come out of the race if he is to get a place in the line-up, though nine of those above him are also Pipe-trained, and punters can be mindful of the 'non-runner, no bet' concession which is widely available.

Pipe, for his part, claimed that today's success had been the most important.

"He'll be left in at Cheltenham and we'll see how he is, but this was the one we wanted to win," he said. "He's a big, strong horse and he jumped really well.

"He'll make a lovely chaser next season, which is what he was bought for.

"I fancied him a lot first time out but he ran terribly. But maybe he has just needed time, because he has really come to himself lately."

Murphy, too, was keeping his feet on the ground.

"The race was run to suit us becuase they kicked on soon enough and came right back to me," he said.

"He had a light weight, and a light weight is what counts in a race like that.

"He's a nice type of horse and hopefully he will keep on improving. The boss has done a great job with him."

Pipe expressed some doubts about Medison's stamina for the stiff two miles five furlongs of the Coral Cup, but connections look sure to have a go at the bonus money if they can get a run.

Runner-up Fenix may go to Cheltenham for the County Hurdle provided there is some cut in the ground.