River Wylde maintained his unbeaten record over hurdles with a smooth success in the Sky Bet Dovecote at Kempton.
With freegoing favourite Capitaine always going a stride too quickly in front, he proved a spent force soon after the home turn.
As Capitaine dropped out, that left River Wylde, who had travelled notably smoothly throughout the contest under Nico de Boinville, in pole position, alongside Alan King's smart yardstick Elgin.
River Wylde needed to be asked to go after the final flight, but he responded willingly to score by three and a half lengths.
Peter The Mayo Man kept on for third place.
"I like this horse and I think he's smart," said de Boinville. "He's professional and jumps very slickly. He's got various options."
The winner was cut from 25/1 to 12/1 in the sponsors' non-runner no-bet market for the Sky Bet Supreme Novices' Hurdle.
Successful trainer Nicky Henderson was left juggling plans for the winner and said: "He is very quick. They've (owners) got two horses, Lough Derg Spirit is the other one, he won at Musselburgh, and it is amazing how similar they are. They both want two miles and want good ground and are both point-to-pointers.
"Both are incredibly quick hurdlers, now we have got to decide what to do with each of them. I think this one probably wants minding a bit, the other one might be a bit more streetwise.
"This fellow can drop in a bit and travel well throughout a race. He will be good off a strong pace, but he is just a bit babyish. I suppose one will run there (Cheltenham) and one at Aintree."
