There was a fitting start to Cheltenham’s November Meeting when David Pipe’s American Sniper landed the opening Lycetts Insurance Brokers Conditional Jockeys’ Handicap Hurdle.

The Pipes have been synonymous with success at this meeting down the years and although Pond House may be lacking the stars of old, they showed they can still land a punch on the big occasion as American Sniper (16-1) led home a one-three for the Somerset team, with stablemate Paricolor picking up the bronze medal.

It was Pipe’s fourth win in the race since 2014 and first at the track since the spring of 2022 with a first-time tongue-tie working the oracle on his winning five-year-old, who was never involved over three miles at the track last month.

“We probably haven’t got as many as we used to, but we fancied both of them and they finished first and third,” said Pipe.

“On their best bits of form they had chances. We’ll enjoy today.

“We put a tongue-tie on him for the first time which probably helped and he likes a bit better ground, so obviously first race of the meeting it obviously helped.”

Brendan Powell delivered Triple Trade (100-30 favourite) with perfection as Joe Tizzard’s seven-year-old hunted down Dan Skelton’s Calico late in the day to go one better than his running on second here in October.

“I thought it was a lovely race for him today and Brendan gave him a peach,” said the winning trainer.

“He was always going to play him late-ish and he didn’t get into him until the last and won nicely. It was a proper performance.

“The horse deserved to win off his last form and he’s improving all the time. He’s been sharper since that last run, a lot of my horses were needing the run three weeks ago and I expected a big performance and it came off.

“He’s one of the cheapest horses we’ve ever bought, he cost £12,000 I think it was, so he was cheap and three good lads own him. Dad said he was a Gold Cup horse when he bought him but couldn’t get him on the track for 18 months.”

Triple Trade could now be tasked with replicating Amarillo Sky’s Newbury victory in the Coral Get Closer To The Action Handicap Chase on December 2.

“I would be half-tempted to take him to Newbury at the end of the month,” added Tizzard.

“There is that nice handicap at the end of the Saturday that we won with Amarillo Sky.

“We will see how he comes out of it, but I’m tempted by that and it is in the back of my mind. These two milers, you can run them a bit more frequent.

“We were never dreaming he was an Amarillo Sky, but he’s heading in the right direction isn’t he and I’m really tempted to take him to Newbury if it is nice and soft in a couple of weeks’ time and keep having a lot of fun.”

Also in the winner’s enclosure was Nicky Henderson, who got his hands on the concluding Valda Energy Novices’ Handicap Hurdle thanks to 2-1 favourite Impose Toi.

Henderson said: “He’s a sort of novice dressed up, he’s only a novice until about four days time and by the end of next week he’s not a novice, so it was a tidy race for him to aim at to start the season. He has to go play with the grown ups now.

“He’s got the experience running in a novice handicap like that and everything was in his favour today and it will only get harder. But having said that he is a very, very likeable character and a straightforward horse. He used to be a bit keen but he has given that up. He will jump a fence and a nice horse for the future.

“You could go to an intermediate hurdle because it is for last season’s novices, but that was a 0-125 so we can’t get carried away.”

Future assignments could include a pre-Christmas trip to Ascot for the the Betfair Exchange Trophy, while Henderson also believes the five-year-old could step up in trip before the end of the season.

“AP (McCoy) mentioned that (Ascot) and it would be a race,” continued Henderson.

“That’s quite a step up and we’ll have to see what the handicapper says, but I wouldn’t be getting too carried away at the moment. He’s done that well and his life is in front of him, he’s progressing anyway.

“He does stay and he got two-and-a-half last year. He was a bit free over two-and-a-half last year but now he’s racing more professionally, you could probably go to two-and-a-half. He wouldn’t be whizzing round Fakenham, he wants a nice galloping track.”