Sent off a well-backed 8/13 favourite, the Fighting Fifth winner warmed to his task and down the back straight joined big rival Ballyburn at the head of affairs.

From then on he always looked to be going a stride quicker than the Irish raider was comfortable with and between the last two he sauntered clear.

Paul Townend did well to sit on Ballyburn as he made a mistake at the last and Nico De Boinville was able to ease Sir Gino right down to score by seven-and-a-half lengths.

Betfair and Paddy Power cut the winner to even-money favouritism for the Arkle at Cheltenham. Sky Bet are 11/10 from 11/4.

De Boinville said: “He was a bit sketchy over the first, but in fairness by the time we turned down the side towards the open ditch, it all clicked. He’s so quick back on the ground after taking off that he’s just taking lengths in the air. We knew he had the engine, it was just a case of whether he could put it all together.

“He’s got an enormous engine, but it’s amazing round here as the fences come up really fast and you have to stay and you have to be able to jump at speed and think quickly. I’d say he’s exceeded my expectations and I’d say he’s progressed for a fence as well.”

While Sir Gino would have been entitled to head down the Champion Hurdle route following his Fighting Fifth success, Henderson always appeared keen to pursue a chasing career.

He told Racing TV: “I must admit, a couple of months ago Charlie Morlock (assistant trainer) and myself and Nico took him out rather early one morning to have a little look of him over fences. It was in the dark and we thought we’d do it just so everybody didn’t see it, but I promise you by the time we got back, everybody had backed him for the Arkle and they hadn’t even seen it!

“He was very good, so we knew we had the option to switch, and then it became necessary to bring him into the Fighting Fifth because we weren’t ready with the boy from yesterday (Constitution Hill). He came in not as the sub, because he’s a very good horse in his own right, but if they were going to both make it down the Champion Hurdle road, one of them had to beat the other in simple terms.

“We schooled Sir Gino again over fences and he was just the same – he has so much scope. It just seemed the natural thing to do with the (four-year-old) allowance and he’s a genuine two-miler.

“If you remember his first run over hurdles here, he broke six of them! That was my fault because I hadn’t really schooled him properly, I just assumed because he’d come from France over those Auteuil hurdles, he’d jump English ones. It never occurred to me he wouldn’t know what these were and he was terrible, but we schooled him a couple of times after that and he was great.”

“He’s always had a huge amount of talent and this sort of track suits him really well because he’s got a lot of speed. I think he has to have another run. You could say ‘what can you teach him?’. Probably not a lot, but you’ve just got to be respecting these things because it is all a little bit too easy for him today.

“This is a lovely place to learn without getting the big tests, which you’re going to get at Sandowns, Ascots and Cheltenhams. They’re different tests and you’ve just got to have your wits about you a little bit more than you need to round here, but this is a great place to start.

“We’ve been very lucky (with two-mile chasers). Altior was brilliant, Sprinter Sacre was just phenomenal and Remittance Man in the good old days was pretty spectacular too.”

Timeform view from the card – David Cleary

Chasing debuts don’t come any better than that produced by Sir Gino in winning the Grade 2 Wayward Lad. His performance earned a provisional Timeform rating of 159. For comparison his stable’s illustrious chasers of the last decade or so, Sprinter Sacre, Altior, Jonbon and Shishkin, managed 154 and 152 three times respectively when making their bow over fences.

That Sir Gino was making his chasing debut here was due to his switch to fences being delayed while he stood in for Constitution Hill in the Fighting Fifth Hurdle at Newcastle. After that, a continued campaign over hurdles might have been considered – he’d be a very plausible Champion Hurdle contender – but Sir Gino is every inch a chaser on looks. After today’s romp small wonder connections still moved him to tackle the larger obstacles.

After a slight mistake at the first, Sir Gino’s jumping was very polished, breathtaking at times. The way he tanked along in a well-run race was impressive too. He and his main rival Ballyburn had dropped the other two runners by the fifth. Sir Gino jumped to the front at the seventh and was in complete control after quickening clear before the second-last.

Although the runner-up banked the last, Sir Gino was eased late on and could have won by a fair bit further than 7½ lengths. Sir Gino was receiving 6 lb weight-for-age from Ballyburn, while the Timeform scale would have them running at level weights. However, this was a scintillating debut effort by any measure. Even though L’Eau du Sud has created such a strong impression, it’s no wonder Sir Gino is a short-priced favourite for this season’s Arkle.

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