Trainer Paul Nicholls sent out the 3,000th winner of his remarkable career when Capitaine landed strong market support at Taunton.
The grey Capitaine was a well-backed 3/1 favourite for what looked a seriously competitive edition of the Greene King Handicap Hurdle but the money proved well placed as Harry Cobden guided the seven-year-old to a length and a half success over Philip Hobbs' Sternrubin.
The race was marred when Misterton took a heavy fall two flights from the finish, bringing down the strong-travelling Nube Negra in the process, but Capitaine had just taken up the running.
Sternrubin held a narrow advantage coming to the last but the Nicholls runner found plenty on the run-in to claim the landmark success for the bang in-form, 10-times champion trainer.
Nicholls could hardly be in better form with just three weeks until the Cheltenham Festival and celebrated eight winners on a remarkable day on Saturday, including Cyrname and Gold Cup-bound Clan Des Obeaux in Grade One races at Ascot.
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