Francois Doumen made a successful raid across the English Channel today as Spunk claimed Sandown's formulawine.co.uk Juvenile Novices' Hurdle to earn a 33-1 quote with Coral for the Triumph Hurdle.
The Chantilly maestro called on the services of Dougie Costello and the jockey gathered the 8-11 favourite up over the final flight to pull a length and a half clear in the testing conditions.
Doumen said: "He proved he could cope with the ground last time out so that was not a concern.
"It was a silly race as they went slow and it turned into a sprint.
"He won nicely and can only improve as he has had so few runs and I might bring him back over here in February."