Jango Baie put himself firmly in the King George VI Chase picture with a demonstrative performance in the Ladbrokes 1965 Chase at Ascot.

Despite plenty of Nicky Henderson’s early-season runners needing their first outing of the season, last season’s Arkle hero was sent off the 9-4 favourite, with Nico de Boinville content to allow some of the other candidates in the stellar line-up stride on in the early stages.

There was a fascinating early skirmish for the lead, with Harry Fry’s Gidleigh Park eventually taking the authority and Il Est Francais and two-time race winner Pic D’orhy never too far away.

As Il Est Francais was the first to crack and faded tamely, De Boinville was smuggling Jango Baie into contention and swinging the bend for home it was simply a case of how far, with the ever-improving six-year-old striding on to a nine-length victory over Gidleigh Park who bravely plugged on for second.

Bookmakers made the winner as short as 7-1 from 20s for the Ryanair Chase at the Cheltenham Festival, but in the more immediate, 4-1 for Kempton’s Christmas feature on Boxing Day.

More to follow…