Alan King’s march to the Cheltenham festival gathered more pace as Trenchant won the Grade 2 National Spirit Hurdle at Fontwell on Sunday insuring his place in the Barbury Castle handlers’ team in a few weeks time.

The five-year-old seemed to be helped by the application of blinkers for the first-time as he pulled out more than his rivals on the run-in to win a tad comfortably despite Robert Thornton being under pressure a long way from home.

Bookmakers were impressed by the performance with Stan James cutting him from 25-1 to 16-1 for the Pertemps Final which now looks likely to be his target according to King’s assistant trainer Noel Williams.

Williams said: "The blinkers have woken him up and he schooled well in then during the week. We were hopeful but not sure which Trenchant would turn up.

"He has certainly done enough to book his place at Cheltenham and choc (Robert Thornton) thinks he will get three miles.

"With that in mind he will probably be aimed at the Pertemps Final rather than the Coral Cup."

The weights for all the Cheltenham handicaps are announced later this week, so to keep an eye on all the latest market moves and a free £25 bet on this year’s Cheltenham festival head to the Stan James website.

Get £25 free from Stan James. Use code MAXIMUMBONUS on sign-up form.