Kandoo Kid won the Coral Gold Cup at Newbury | report and free video replay

Nicholls, who won the famous race twice as a jockey, was lifting the trophy for the fourth time as a trainer but it had been a long wait since Denman's second win in the contest in 2009.

Kandoo Kid was always prominent behind a pace set by Colonel Harry and Broadway Boy.

Colonel Harry's team had intended to hold him up but he was worked up beforehand and soon pulled his way to the front under Gavin Sheehan. That told in the home straight, leaving Broadway Boy marginally in front of Kandoo Kid but the principals were reasonably tightly grouped and French challenger General En Chef appeared to be travelling strongly in behind.

Broadway Boy got into the bottom of the fourth last, losing valuable momentum, but battled back to make a line of three with Kandoo Kid and General En Chef at the second last and despite being headed again by Kandoo Kid going into the final fence, the 4/1 favourite again rallied but was never doing enough to reel in the winner who finished a length and three quarters to the good.

General En Chef found less than appeared likely and was passed for third by Victtorino who had dropped out of the back of the television screen when hitting a flat spot before five out and wasn't sighted again until the passing the line.

Cobden revealed 'Team Ditcheat' had always believed that Kandoo Kid had the scope to win a prize of this nature, saying: "We thought this time last year he was made for a race like this but I didn't actually expect him to come here off a mark of 145.

"The horse has just improved tremendously. The boss has trained him beautifully. It's hard to get a horse ready without a run for a race like this and all the credit goes to the team at home, he was easy to steer round.

"I didn't think we went very fast, it was quite a nice, even gallop. It was sensibly controlled by Sammy (Twiston-Davies) on the front end and I was always happy; this horse is not that quick, he keeps finding and he's really relished the three miles."

I love targeting races

Nicholls said: “We’ve aimed the horse at this race all season. I wasn’t going to be tempted to run him before as he is great fresh. He galloped here beautifully the other day, as you probably saw. I thought he would stay and it was a great ride. It was absolutely brilliant.

“I love targeting races and we made a plan. We done plenty with him and he had that little gallop the other day. I just thought he had improved. I thought when he ran in the Topham last season he was flat out all the way out and stayed on really strong.

“I thought this was the ideal race for him as he loves to go left handed and now we can dream of the Grand National.

“He won here last season, but he was just needing time as he was a shell of a horse. I didn’t want to run him before today and set him back and get a penalty so we thought we would come straight here and have him really ready.

“The plan will be now to give him one more run then go to Aintree. If he went to Aintree without a run it wouldn’t worry me as he is so good fresh.

“Harry was thrilled with him as he did everything nicely.

Everyone was writing us off

“That is what it is all about getting good horses like this and getting them ready to run. I strongly fancied him. I really thought he would go very well and I had a lovely £100 each-way bet on him at 25/1 about a month ago. I thought he was a fantastic price and I knew what I was doing, as regards aiming him for today, and it came off.

“Harry had always saved plenty and his jumping was not going to let him down. That kept him going all the way up the straight. I felt he would stay on strongly and he ended up winning with his ears pricked.

“I think he will be a great type for Aintree, and he has been around there once before and was brilliant and he has the Grand National written all over him so that is what we will train him for.

“We’ve had brilliant days here with Denman and Strong Flow, and with Broadheath and Playschool. I love this race.

“You want to win all these good races. Denman was fantastic winning it twice, but I don’t think we have had too much suitable to run in it since, but he was an ideal horse. It is great for Harry as well.

“Michael [Geoghegan, owner] has been a flat man, but he has got some nice jumping horses. He has been patient and he kept asking me when he was running, but I said not until the Coral Gold Cup. He is loving it as well. He was a good friend of Andy Stewart’s and has become a good friend of mine.

“Everyone was writing us off in October, but I had a plan. I’ve learnt over the years if you win a lot of races in October they often don’t win again. It is amazing how they come in November, which they have done. Whether we have got quite enough firepower I don’t know, but we won’t be far away.

“We have some nice young horses to run, and horses like this lad, but winning the Grand National would be handy. I’ll probably run Bravemansgame as well which is what you need.”

The Timeform View by David Cleary

With a smaller field than usual and with the weights headed by one rising 13, it's fair to say this year's running of the Coral Gold Cup hardly looked a vintage renewal. On the other hand, it certainly looked open and competitive, and plenty still held a chance early in the straight, despite the race being soundly run.

Kandoo Kid, who had had a breathing operation since finishing a close third in the Topham, travelled strongly through the race, well positioned on the leaders' shoulders on the final circuit, and found extra from the last when required, as the pace-making Broadway Boy stuck gamely to his task.

Like many a winner of this race, Kandoo Kid is a second-season chaser, though not one with seemingly many secrets from the handicapper – all but one of his runs in his first campaign over fences came in open handicaps, his sole previous success off a mark of 129 at this meeting a year ago. The card up his sleeve was that he was unexposed/unproven at three miles, having run poorly on his one attempt at the trip. As it turned out, he was evidently suited by it, this a career-best performance.

A relatively narrow win off a mark of 145 isn't going to push Kandoo Kid into the reckoning for the top graded staying chases, though he can advance further up the rankings. Given how well he ran at Aintree in the spring, coupled with the stamina he showed here, it could be that the Grand National will be the most suitable target for the spring.

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