Star Double got Warwick’s flagship meeting off to a flying start with a comprehensive victory in the toteplacepot Novices’ Handicap Hurdle.
The meeting only got the go-ahead following a second inspection at 7.30am and the going was predictably heavy after a deluge of rain during the week.
But the conditions proved no barrier to success for Nigel Twiston-Davies’ charge, with the 7-1 shot going on down the back straight and keeping on strongly to deny Florazine by three lengths.
The trainer said of the Tony Evans-ridden winner: “I have always thought he is a good horse, but he has taken a while to get his act together.
“He will make a nice chaser and it is only a matter of time before we send him down that route.”