Nicky Henderson was paying his first visit to Kempton Park this week ahead of Constitution Hill's run at the Sunbury-on-Thames venue on Wednesday.
The veteran Lambourn handler was in more familiar territory on Monday as he saddled Caspari (4/1) in the Virgin Bet "National Hunt" Novices' Hurdle over two miles five furlongs.
The five-year-old, a half-brother to the same connections talented mare Luccia, has improved from start to start, disappointing on debut before winning at Huntingdon and Caspari showed a good attitude to get the better of odds-on favourite Fountains Blenhein and Step Ahead in an exciting finish.
"He's a homebred which is lovely, a half-brother to Luccia," he told Racing TV.
"We went to Ludlow to start his life where he was catastrophic, it was embarrassing, he hadn't got a clue what he was doing; so, we thought we'd have to get going, educate him, get him handicapped and you still get the impression he doesn't know what he's doing but he's won his next two and you'd have to say he's surprised us a little bit.
"He's got a wonderful temperament and attitude; I think he's just been hiding it quietly and we're on the road now, things are progressing rather quickly.
"Luccia didn't stay more than two miles but to be fair to him, he makes everything look such hard work at home you'd think we've got to slow the race down a little bit by putting an extra distance in him. He might like some slower ground too but I loved the way he went round there, he jumped - James [Bowen, jockey] said he was much slicker than at Huntingdon - and I'd have thought around two and a half would be ideal for him at the moment.
"It's some progress, it's extraordinary."
Caspari could run again this season if the weather allows.
"You could do, he doesn't worry about much, so he could take it all and he looks really well," his trainer continued. "We'd need some rain, I wouldn't want to get any quicker than that. If we got some rain I wouldn't see why he wouldn't go again."
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Doubles and trebles all round at Kempton
Henrietta Knight hadn't sent out a winner since December but the Oxfordshire based trainer got the monkey off her back when Loustic Du Chatel (13/8) recorded a smooth success under Tom Bellamy in the opening maiden hurdle.
Bellamy was then seen to good effect in a tight finish as he nursed Largy Panic (9/2) home in the novices' handicap hurdle, winning by a neck and a short-head.
Largy Panic, trained by Ben Clarke, was landing a gamble having been backed down from 16/1 despite finishing tailed off on his handicap debut last time.
Bellamy was at his best aboard Alan King's popular veteran Es Perfecto (5/1) who successfully stepped up to three miles for the first time in his career at the age of 11.
Es Perfecto's task was made easier by the early departures of Annsam and Gustavian but they still had things far from their own way. Bellamy was anxious to hold on to Es Perfecto for as long as possible and sat still in the saddle as they raced around the final turn alongside Welcom To Cartries.
Bellamy still waited at the top of the straight before getting more serious with his mount but by then Lumi Plugin was looming large in the rear view mirror. The challenger was slightly clumsy at the second last but closed going to the final obstacle with Es Perfecto seemingly running out of gas. The winner again produced the slicker leap though and Bellamy had enough up his sleeve to push Es Perfecto out to win by a length and three quarters.
Es Perfecto is owned, like Loustic Du Chatel, by Liz Prowting.
King said: "This season for whatever reason hasn't really happened for him and he's been a bit disappointing. Rachel [King] rides him every day at home and very special and for Mrs Prowting to have a double today, it's wonderful.
"I think I've known Liz since about 1987 when she had her first horse with David Nicholson which I rode and she's been a great supporter of mine since I started. A special day.
"He did miss a season with a leg but he is, really, a good ground horse. We ran him here at the last meeting and were a bit disappointed and I was a bit worried today about whether it had dried up too much. It's great, I don't know how much longer we'll go on with him but this is a special day for him."
King is firmly established as a dual-purpose trainer these days and is looking forward to the start of the Flat season but he enjoyed another big National Hunt winner when Charisma Cat struck at Newbury on Saturday.
"I think she's always been very good, it's just taken a bit of time to get her jumping as efficiently as we'd have liked but I think she could be very exciting next year in those mares' races.
"The Flat team are coming along well, I think we're probably about three weeks off, middle of April. We've got one or two to run in the Classic Trials which is very exciting this year."
Knight brought up her double when Southoftheborder (9/4 favourite) comfortably landed the odds in a handicap chase over two miles and two furlongs with Paul O'Brien in the saddle.
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