Nemean Lion justified strong market support to win the Jennings Bet Kingwell Hurdle at Wincanton for Kerry Lee.

Lee decided against running the seven-year-old under a big weight in the Betfair Hurdle last weekend in favour of this Grade Two and the decision was vindicated.

Winner of the Welsh Champion Hurdle earlier in the season, Richard Patrick settled him just behind the front-running Rubaud, who Nemean Lion had replaced as favourite due to sustained money in the morning.

Sent off the 6-5 market leader, it looked like it was going to be plain sailing at the second-last as Rubaud dropped away tamely and Nemean Lion was pulling away from Colonel Mustard.

To the Irish raider’s credit, Colonel Mustard stuck to his task gamely and kept Nemean Lion honest, but there was a length and a half in it at the line.

Lee said: “We decided to wait for this and why take on 20 others when you can take on four!

“The thing with him off a mark of 145 it would have been very tough off top-weight (in the Betfair) – as we proved when second in the Lanzarote, it is very tough giving weight to unexposed horses so that is why we took in this race.

“He had an entry in the Rendlesham as well today, but I just wasn’t keen on going over three miles on heavy ground for the first time.

“We’re very lucky in that we’ve got a versatile horse, he’s got the speed for two miles, stays two-five and he wasn’t stopping there and it would be good to explore further – but at the same time we don’t need to.”

She went on: “I wouldn’t run him back quick as he puts everything into his races, we’ll just weigh everything up.

“I wouldn’t rule out Aintree (Aintree Hurdle), there’s a race on Irish National day at Fairyhouse he could go for, we’ve got lots of options and we’ll chat to the team and see which is the best one. We’ll enjoy today first.

“These days are great for a small yard like ours with 20-odd horses. He’s a real character, he loves being in a yard where he gets all the attention.”