Bravemansgame maintained his unbeaten record over fences by claiming the scalp of Ahoy Senor in the Ladbrokes Kauto Star Novices' Chase.
The runner-up tried to make all but put in short jumps on a number of occasions when Derek Fox thought he'd seen a stride and could never slip the eventual winner.
He was alongside three out and clear soon after the second last, running on strongly to score by seven-and-a-half lengths.
"He's a horse we think a lot of and wanted to see a performance like that," said a delighted winning trainer Paul Nicholls.
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"The horse has done the talking for us today. It was soft enough for him here and it was a mighty performance. He's awesome and is only going to get better when he gets stronger. He's a mighty horse and next year's King George is the target.
"I don't want to give him too many hard races, some of the owners are very keen to go to Cheltenham but for me if he missed that, won at Aintree and then won the King George that would be doing the job properly. He needs looking after."
Winning rider Harry Cobden said: "He's an unbelievable horse. Today we got a lead on him and he was completely behind the bridle the whole way. It's happened before. I didn't expect him to be as relaxed as he was. He jumped fantastic and I'm very lucky to ride him."
Sky Bet cut the winner to 3/1 (from 4s) for the Brown Advisory Novices' Chase at Cheltenham. Betfair and Paddy Power are the same price from 11/2.
Sky Bet Head of Sports PR Michael Shinners said: "An excellent performance from Bravemansgame to quicken clear of his rivals in taking fashion. We are now 3/1 from 4/1 for the three-mile contest at Cheltenham."
Lucinda Russell was far from disheartened in defeat and expects Ahoy Senor to progress again for the experience.
She said: “I’m delighted with him. He’s got a couple of little things he could brush up with his jumping, but he’s an immense horse and the winner is obviously an outstanding horse as well.
“It’s exciting to have a horse at this level – it’s just brilliant. I think he’s lost nothing in defeat. I don’t know where we’ll go next. We’ll speak to the owners and have a think.”
