Although his last visit to Prestbury Park ended with him pulling up in March, the chances of a similar happening were thankfully remote from an early stage, with new pilot Nico de Boinville exuding confidence aboard the seven-times Grade One winner.

Mr Mole took the field along until giving way to the well-backed 15-8 favourite over the fourth-last, in what was to be a race-winning move.

With his rivals all feeling the pressure, Sprinter Sacre continued to turn the screw, just as he did in both his Arkle and Queen Mother successes, opening up a sizeable advantage on the run down to the second-last.

Although flicking through the top of the penultimate fence it failed to halt the momentum of Henderson’s pride and joy as he bounded on in imperious fashion to the final fence.

Clearing it decisively, the hugely-popular chaser stormed up the hill helped by the roar of more than 15,000 spectators to further widen his gap and claim an emotional 14-length success from Somersby.

Henderson said: “He was back as if he was the king, and he raced like he was the king. It was very special and the fact that it was appreciated meant a lot.

“We’ll have to see how he is after this, but we’ll have a look at the Tingle Creek. It’s the obvious race.”

But there was a huge shock at Punchestown as Champion Hurdle hero Faugheen could not get past stablemate Nichols Canyon in the StanJames.com Morgiana Hurdle, despite being sent off at odds of 1-6.

Trainer Willie Mullins said: “Faugheen was a little disappointing. Ruby (Walsh) said he hung, but horses hang when they get tired. Maybe he just met a good horse.

“They went a good gallop and Nichols did it the hard way out in front, he jumped fantastic. Maybe he has improved more. Until he tells me something wasn’t right, I’m not making any excuses for Faugheen.

“We’ll see how they come out of the race and they’ll be entered in all those races that Champion Hurdle horses should be in.

“They’ll probably have to take on each other, but if we can keep them apart we will.”

The resurrection of Ian Popham on Saturday was a great story, too, as he put his injury nightmares behind him to win the Paddy Power Gold Cup at Cheltenham aboard Annacotty for Alan King.

If ever there was a jockey that merited a slice of good luck then the 25-year-old would have been close to the top of the list having suffered a catalogue of injuries in recent seasons.

Although no stranger to top-level success having steered the talented but quirky seven-year-old Annacotty to glory in the Grade One Kauto Star Novices’ Chase at Kempton in 2013 when with Martin Keighley, this win meant more than most given the journey he has endured.

Despite never being a position he was content with, Popham, much like with his injury battles, was in no mood to throw in the towel aboard the 12-1 shot and Annacotty battled all the way up the hill to deny the hard-charging Buywise by half a length.

Popham said: “I broke my collarbone in November and again in December, then I had a bad fall at Market Rasen on Boxing Day where I broke my cheekbone and chin.

“I missed both Cheltenham and Aintree and I went to France for the summer as I needed to get my head straight as things were not going well.

“This season has been a slow burner. I only had my first winner 10 days ago. I’ve been working hard and riding out at a lot of places.

“Riding in the Paddy Power was miles away a few months ago, as all I was riding were 100-1 shots around Plumpton and Taunton, but you have to take the rough with the smooth when you are trying to get back on track.

“I’ll have to pinch myself, it doesn’t feel real.”