Coneygree electric in Sandown

Coneygree sent out a stark warning to those wanting to capture his Cheltenham Gold Cup crown by lighting up Sandown Park with a convincing success on his eagerly-awaited seasonal return in the Future Stars Chase.

Despite opposition being thin on the ground, the eight-year-old put in the sort of performance expected from a horse of his calibre when routing two rivals with the minimum of fuss to maintain his unbeaten record over fences.

Adopting his customary front-running role, defeat in the three-mile Listed prize was never in doubt for the 1-4 favourite, despite him getting in close to the odd fence in what otherwise was an exemplary round of jumping.

Southfield Theatre and runner-up Seventh Sky were hard at work by the 13th fence, but the Mark Bradstock-trained Coneygree galloped on relentlessly all the way to the line under Nico de Boinville for an eased-down 25-length success.

Bradstock said: "That's just what the doctor ordered and hopefully it's onwards and upwards. That was great - I'm really pleased.

"I was a little tense, to say the least, and I wanted to get the first run out of the way.

"He jumped super and he is so deceptive, the pace that he goes.

"It was not a total walkover but he put them to shame with his jumping and his galloping. I don't think he had a particularly hard race.

"That was fabulous."

Next up for Coneygree will be the Hennessy Gold Cup at Newbury on November 28.

Bradstock said: "The Hennessy is the plan and we'll go from there. We've got to give a bit of weight away, but we'll give it a go as others have done it before.

"He will love the track and it is three and a quarter miles so they will have to go a bit.

Bradstock was not the only one delighted with the display of his stable star, with his winning rider equally satisfied.

De Boinville said: "It was a really nice, clinical performance.

"I'm delighted with that - it was just what we wanted. He felt great. We were in tight a couple of times and he shortened up well.

"He's just the same old Coneygree."

Plans are on hold for Puffin Billy after he was found to be lame ahead of his intended reappearance in the race.

Trainer Oliver Sherwood said: "He's lame in front. We don't know yet quite why. He was sound on Saturday morning.

"We don't think it's anything really serious, but obviously you can't run a horse that's lame. Lameness does happen to horses quite regularly.

"We can't make a plan until we've found what the problem is. Once we have, we'll make a plan later on."