Paul Nicholls landed his 12th Ladbrokes King George VI Chase as Frodon (20/1) claimed a memorable win under Bryony Frost.
The winning horse and rider have been one of the most enduring partnerships in National Hunt racing in recent seasons and they had nearly all of their rivals in trouble turning in.
Between the last two, what seemed to be his final pursuer Saint Calvados cracked, only for Waiting Patiently to engage overdrive under Brian Hughes.
He finished to great effect but Frodon was away and gone, running on strongly to win by two-and-a-quarter lengths.
His stablemate Clan Des Obeaux (85/40 favourite) was third as he sought a third straight win in the Boxing Day feature.
“We’ve just won the King George!" a beaming Frost told ITV Racing. “I have had the absolute best time going round there on him. The dark days, the hard words you get thrown at you, to gallop round there with him – he has just smashed everybody’s expectations.
“He’s gone round a track that’s the wrong way for him, always giving away ground a little bit at his fences.
“I got some amazing jumps from him. He’s what you dream of as a little girl – absolutely epic.”
Nicholls added: "I wasn't expecting that although he's a very good horse on his day and loves it round here. I said to Bryony go as quick as you can and just keep galloping, you know he's tough and brave.
"I think he took the mickey out of us at Aintree the other day when they missed out all those fences, he came back very fresh and we've done some serious work with him over the last two or three weeks.
"He probably doesn't know what's hit him but he thrives on it hence today he's gone and done that.
"Clan Des Obeaux had a very, very hard race at Haydock and ran a bit flat. He got a bit behind and didn't jump too well. Cyrname seemed to spit the dummy out when he got dropped in behind and probably likes to dominate but this horse (Frodon) keeps going a gallop and never knows when he's beat."
