Salvator Mundi beaten by Willie Mullins stablemate Kappa Jy Pyke

Sent off the 1/7 favourite under Paul Townend for the two miles and two-furlong contest, Salvator Mundi took the field along after the early departure of Sainte Tartare, and he held a lead of around four lengths jumping the third-last obstacle.

There was still a couple of lengths between the odds-on favourite and Danny Mullins-ridden Kappa Jy Pyke approaching two out but by the last fence in the home straight it was the 6/1 second-favourite who apparently moved best and pounced, coming home a length and a quarter to the good after quickening best on the short run-in.

Paddy Power and Sky Bet reacted by pushing the runner-up out to 20/1 for the Arkle at Cheltenham, with the winner available at 40/1 but as short as 20s with some firms.

Speaking to Racing TV after partnering Le Divin Enfant to victory for Mullins in the Sign Up To GavinLynchRacing.com Maiden Hurdle later on the card, Townend said: "I suppose you're always looking for a positive but I was very disappointed to get beat.

"I did like the other horse (Kappa Jy Pyke) last year and he probably disappointed us a lot more in Cheltenham and Aintree than we thought. It was a huge step forward from him, if you're going to gauge it off Salvator Mundi, but I think we'll improve a lot. He took a couple of blows like a few of ours are, but disappointed I couldn't shake Danny off down the straight."

Of Le Divin Enfant (replay below), he added: "He had the experience of French jumping and we had to use that. It probably wasn't the deepest race but he's had a nice experience and we didn't have to empty the tank. Hopefully it's knocked the freshness out of him, I got the feel of a good horse off him. You can see afterwards, he was still fresh after the race."

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