Vice-captain Moeen Ali has urged England to rebuild their ageing team after the World Cup, claiming “the writing was on the wall and we just didn’t see it”.

Moeen was part of a golden generation who became world champions on home soil in 2019 and are likely to go down as the country’s best ever white-ball side, but their story is ending in disarray.

After arriving in India with genuine hopes of defending their crown, they have crashed out of the competition in humiliating fashion with six defeats from their seven matches so far.

Ashes rivals Australia became the latest side to turn them over on Sunday, finally confirming the early exit that had long been on the cards, joining New Zealand, Afghanistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka and India in a growing list.

For the last three games England have fielded a side comprised entirely of over-thirties and prospects of a radical overhaul will surely prove irresistible. Back in 2015 Eoin Morgan led a similar renewal, strikingly calling time on the vastly experienced James Anderson and Stuart Broad.

And Moeen, the oldest player in the squad at 36, realises that time has caught up with them.

“I just think everything good comes to an end at some point,” he said.

“Maybe the writing was on the wall and we just didn’t see it as players because we thought we’d be performing well.

“I think if I was in charge I’d play the younger guys, I’d just start again and I’m sure they’re going to do that. It’s common sense more than anything. You want that fearless approach and it’s a great time to start again.”

Jonny Bairstow and Joe Root are among the stalwarts who have publicly said they want to carry on in 50-over cricket, but Moeen appears ready to step away with no grudges.

“I’m obviously going to speak to Jos Buttler and Motty (head coach Matthew Mott) and see what they want from me, whether they want me around or whatever,” he said.

“I don’t know. If they say, ‘look we’re going to go with younger players and start again’ then I’m more than happy. I get it, I understand and like I said, everything good comes to an end at some point.”

England could choose to start the regeneration process immediately, with Harry Brook (24), Sam Curran (25), Gus Atkinson (25) and Brydon Carse (28) all waiting in the wings in the current squad.

Bringing Brook back into a top six that has repeatedly fallen short appears the most obvious move but England may find it hard to shrug off their conservatism by making wholesale changes against the Netherlands on Wednesday.

The game in Pune is not only a must-win in terms of basic pride but also critical if England are to keep alive their hopes of finishing in the top eight and securing a place in the Champions Trophy in 2025.

Buttler said he would need time to “digest” the latest defeat before making a call on team selection, but did not rule out another show of faith in the old guard.

“The guys who we were selecting have been top players for a long time and time kind of says that at some point they’ll get back to being the best,” he said.

Moeen, despite his readiness to slip into the shadows, stands ready to play if required.

“Like always, you pick the best players who you think are going to win the game,” he said.

“We obviously haven’t been playing well and I’m sure they’re going to talk and decide on who they want to play. We’ve got to turn up properly as players. These are two massive games coming up.

“I know how important the Champions Trophy is in terms of experience at a world event because you get that experience for the next World Cup, especially with potentially younger players coming in. It’s very important we as players make sure we qualify.”

Daniel Ricciardo escaped injury after his car was struck by a flying tyre following a chaotic start to the Brazilian Grand Prix.

The loose carcass hit Ricciardo’s rear wing following a collision between Alex Albon and Nico Hulkenberg moments after the start in Interlagos.

Albon, 13th on the grid, drew alongside Hulkenberg but the two machines made contact, sending the London-born driver into Hulkenberg’s Haas team-mate Kevin Magnussen and then into the barrier.

The force of the impact tore the left-rear off Albon’s Williams, with the bouncing tyre, which weighs 11.5 kilograms – roughly 1.5 times the weight of a ten-pin bowling ball – narrowly flying over the top of Ricciardo’s head before smashing into the back of his AlphaTauri.

Footage from Ricciardo’s cockpit shows him turning sharply to the left to avoid the flying rubber.

“I tried to miss it, but the tyre was in the air and it clipped my rear wing,” he said.

The Australian driver, 34, was able to limp back to the pits for the repairs following the fortunate escape, while both Albon and Magnussen emerged unscathed. Hulkenberg was able to carry on before the race was red-flagged.

Max Verstappen was afforded the front row to himself for the beginning of the race after Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc crashed out on the formation lap.

Leclerc blamed a hydraulics failure for the accident. The race was suspended for 25 minutes as the tyre barrier on the approach to the opening bend was repaired following Albon’s shunt.

Lando Norris will line up for the restart in second place following a fine getaway by the British driver from sixth on the grid. Lewis Hamilton made up two places from fifth to third.

Nottingham Forest boss Steve Cooper praised young musician Caiden Storry after he could not complete the Last Post ahead of the 2-0 win over Aston Villa.

Storry was consoled by both sets of players and Cooper, before being given a standing ovation by the City Ground after failing to finish the famous tune that marks Armistice Day celebrations.

Cooper says the club will reach out to the 16-year-old, who is a Forest fan, and said everyone was proud of him.

“I’ve got a 15-year-old boy and I love it when he shows confidence to do things because it isn’t always easy in this era we live in,” Cooper said.

“For a 16-year-old boy who’s a fan to stand in the middle and do that and do it brilliantly as well, he should be really proud and we are proud.

“To see how both sets of players responded, because they have to perform and they know what it’s like.

“It was a really important moment and I thought everyone came together in what is always a poignant moment anyway.

“I managed to have a word with him and we will try and reach out to him and bring him to the training ground and I want him to meet the players so he knows how good he was.

“I told him I was proud of him. He said, ‘I’m sorry about that,’ and I said, ‘What for? Everyone is really proud of you’.

“The Villa boys were excellent and the City Ground was what it was, what we have got, which is unique, we have to keep it going because when things don’t go quite right, let’s look to support each other.

“The fans and players did a brilliant job, Caiden did a brilliant job today and I’m really proud he delivered that for us.”

Dermot Weld’s Falcon Eight was a wide-margin winner of the Comer Group International Loughbrown Stakes at the Curragh.

The dual-purpose eight-year-old is often seen to good effect on the track and finished second in the Irish Cesarewitch over a trip just a furlong shorter in September.

On heavy ground he returned to bid for Group honours under Chris Hayes and at 11-4 he succeeded, defeating Willie Mullins’ 2-1 favourite Echoes In Rain by six and a half lengths.

“He’s as tough as teak and is unlucky not to win the last two runnings of the Irish Cesarewitch, so he deserved a nice win here,” Weld said.

“He’s been a great dual-purpose servant and his full-sister Search For A Song won this race two years ago.

“It’s a possibility that he might go over hurdles at Leopardstown at Christmas or he might go to Dubai for the two-mile race.

“He has stacks of enthusiasm but he is a character.”

Trainer Richard Donohoe enjoyed a poignant first Listed win as Vischio stayed on to take the Start Your Racing TV Free Trial Now Finale Stakes under Gary Carroll.

An outsider at 16-1, the mare was not for beating and had victory in her sights a furlong from home as she refused to be passed in a three-quarter-length triumph over Noel Meade’s Helvic Dream.

“It’s absolutely brilliant for the syndicate involved – my cousin Michael and his sister Mag and the sons,” said Donohoe.

“She was bought for a good friend of mine, John Kennedy, who was fighting cancer at the time. She was second in a seller and we were able to claim her for about 8,000 (euros).

“She won a hurdle race just before Michael died and the current syndicate have had nothing but fun with her ever since.

“She started off this spring and has been at nearly every festival since. We thought she might not go on heavy ground and it’s better she’s got on heavy ground.

“You could see lately she was in brilliant form and she’s really strengthened. The races have taken nothing out of her.

“She had a bit to find on several horses in the race today but there is always a chance in an end-of-season race that horses may not run to form and there was a chance to sneak some black type.

“She was definitely going to be in the first three under two furlongs down, but to win was a dream.

“We are dealing with cheap, low grade horses most of the time and she was low grade too at one time. We never have more than about 10 horses but luckily we’ve had horses that have been able to win races this year which makes it enjoyable.

“I’d say she’ll race away. I had it in my head to go to Leopardstown at Christmas for a hurdle race but I don’t know if that will happen now. She has a mark over hurdles that you’d say she might be able to compete off, but we’ll have to sit down and talk with Michael and Mag.”

Aston Villa boss Unai Emery knows his side missed the opportunity to show they can be contenders at the top end of the Premier League after going down 2-0 at Nottingham Forest.

Villa were below their best as they lost for the first time in six games as Forest won thanks to goals from Ola Aina and Orel Mangala.

Emery’s side, who have enjoyed an excellent start to the season, could have moved above Arsenal and into the top four, but they fluffed their lines.

“Today was a key moment, if we could really be a contender to be in the top seven teams and we lost the opportunity,” Emery said. “I believe in the players, I know they can but we have to be very demanding. We can’t concede chances like we did today.

“If we want to be in the top seven teams we have to try to reduce the mistakes we made today.

“The key moment in 38 matches is every match. Today was a key moment to take some distance with the other teams and get in the top-four positions but we lost this opportunity, now the next match against Fulham next week is a challenge and it is again a key moment.”

Forest took a fifth-minute lead when Aina converted from 20 yards and they doubled their lead after a rare Emiliano Martinez error shortly after restart.

The Argentina World Cup winner won the Yashin Trophy, effectively making him the best goalkeeper in the world, at last week’s Ballon D’Or, but this effort will not be winning him any awards after he could only palm Martinez’s effort into his own net.

Emery added: “We are human and we can make a mistake. I never punish the mistakes of the players because I want to try to get the confidence of everybody, practising, trying to do everything well and when we are facing other teams we have to be better than them.

“But never punishing mistakes, not only for Emiliano, for everybody.”

Forest won for the first time since September 2 with an impressive performance where boss Steve Cooper won the tactical battle against Emery.

Villa played with a high line and Forest exposed them with their pace.

Cooper said: “The players massively followed the game plan. I said to them, I’ve got real gratitude to them for committing to the plan we put in place.

“We came up against a really in-form team with loads of good players and an excellent manager. You have to respect them, but you have to look at a plan where you can win.

“I’m really pleased that the goals we scored were from how we thought we could create chances. Once you get there, you want the players to back themselves to convert.

“Even though they had a lot of the ball, I never really thought we would concede. I never felt the goal was getting peppered. Defensively, we were excellent, both tactically and our defensive intuition backed up with desire and commitment.

“I’m really pleased with the players. They showed a great attitude to the plan. It was an incredible atmosphere to support the players’ performance. I thought today was a really good example of what we’ve become over the last couple of years, and I think that needs a bit of recognition.”

Victorious Fleetwood manager Lee Johnson challenged his players to use their FA Cup exploits as a springboard after beating Kidderminster 2-1 at Aggborough.

Headers from Josh Earl and Shaun Rooney either side of the break were enough for the Cod Army to dump the National League strugglers out of the competition, cancelling out Bailey Hobson’s side-footed opener.

Overcoming adversity in front of a vocal home crowd, Johnson admired the courage of his players at the final whistle.

“We had four golden chances and my criticism is not punishing them and putting the sword through,” he said.

“I was very pleased with the players, particularly after they scored because giving up a goal against a side like this where it’s really important for them to do well in the cup, it gives them something to get hold of.

“We weren’t scoring a lot, now we look like we’re doing that but we’ve got to be ruthless and be killers in front of goal.

“It’s a competition that I really want to do well in and to achieve success, because I think it can be a catalyst to push us on as a football club.”

For Harriers boss Russell Penn on the receiving end of the result, plenty of heart can also be taken, he feels.

“We’re really disappointed with the timings of the goals, because in an FA Cup game you have to have that momentum going into half-time when we’ve scored so late,” he said.

“The whole place was flattened by the second goal and it’s so hard to pin it back especially against better opposition.

“We could’ve been at our absolute best today and still lost the game, and we have to respect that.”

Novak Djokovic eased past Grigor Dimitrov to claim a record-extending seventh Paris Masters title on Sunday.

After needing three sets to win each of his previous three matches, the world number one found the going more straightforward in the final as he saw off the Bulgarian 6-4 6-3.

It was also the Serbian’s 40th Masters 1000 crown, another record, and his 97th on the ATP Tour.

Djokovic allowed his opponent few opportunities, and a single break of serve in each set proved decisive as the 36-year-old won in 98 minutes.

“I think the match was closer than the scoreline indicates, but another amazing win for me,” said Djokovic on atptour.com.

“I’m very proud of this one, considering what I’ve been through this week – basically, coming back from the brink of losing three matches in a row.

“I was very close to losing those matches and somehow managed to find an extra gear when it was needed.

“Today, I think we both were quite tight at the beginning. I could see that he was running out of gas a little bit, myself as well, but I somehow managed to find an extra shot over the net.”

Djokovic is unbeaten since losing to Carlos Alcaraz in the Wimbledon final in July and will head to the ATP finals in Turin next week on an 18-match winning run.

League One Derby left it late to avoid an upset at Crewe as last-gasp goals from Nathaniel Mendez-Laing and Conor Hourihane secured a 2-2 draw at Gresty Road.

Goals from Courtney Baker-Richardson and Elliott Nevitt in either half had swept the League Two front-runners into a two-goal lead and the Rams fell away after dominating the first period.

Crewe goalkeeper Harvey Davies saved Conor Washington’s header with his leg and Baker-Richardson cleared Sonny Bradley’s set-piece header off the line.

The Railwaymen were dangerous on the break and Joe Wildsmith blocked a Rio Adebisi effort after Ryan Nyambe lost possession on the edge of the box.

Tom Barkhuizen dragged an effort past a post and Washington curled over, but the visitors were caught out when Adebisi delivered a superb cross to the far post where Baker-Richardson finished in the 41st minute.

Wildsmith saved from Nevitt and Conor Thomas either side of the interval, but Mendez-Laing should have equalised when Korey Smith delivered a cross and the attacker headed over with the goal at his mercy.

Nevitt’s finishing, though, was spot on as he took Baker-Richardson’s pass and fired in off the far post in the 54th minute.

Paul Warne made a raft of changes and Kane Wilson’s lofted drive was saved by Davies at the near post and another Rams substitute, James Collins, saw a close-range finish chalked off for offside.

With time running out Mendez-Laing’s 89th-minute shot slipped through Davies’ hands to reduce the arrears and the attacker then set up Hourihane, who finished into the top corner in the third minute stoppage time.

Connections of Vauban are harbouring high hopes as he faces his moment of destiny in Tuesday’s Lexus Melbourne Cup at Flemington.

The Willie Mullins-trained five-year-old heads the market for the Group One handicap after making a seamless switch to the Flat following three wins at the highest level over hurdles.

A seven-and-a-half-length winner of the Copper Horse Handicap at Royal Ascot, Vauban then struck Group Three gold in the Ballyroan Stakes on his prep run, leaving big-race rider Ryan Moore confident his mount has plenty in his favour in the 24-runner race.

The jockey told Betfair: “You’d be happy enough with his draw in three, but there are pros and cons to being housed in any stall, so let’s focus on what we know. And that is that Vauban looks to hold excellent credentials, second to none, though maybe connections of Gold Trip and Without A Fight, and others, may disagree.

“Whether or not he deserves to be so short in the betting in a 24-runner handicap in which luck in running can be a big factor, I’ll let others decide. I only ride them.

“But you’d rather be on a 5-2 favourite than a 50-1 outsider and this 160-rated Grade One-winning hurdler was pretty awesome for me when winning the Copper Horse at Royal Ascot from his stablemate and subsequent Ebor winner Absurde, who also runs here, and he set himself up nicely for this when winning his Group Three at Naas, a race in which I actually rode the third, Peking Opera.

“Obviously, the Ascot win came off a mark of just 101 and this is a far deeper handicap and sterner test for him, but it seems like they are delighted with the way he has travelled and has settled in and here is hoping he can give me my first winner of this race since Protectionist in 2014. My only win in the race, in fact.”

Mullins is equally upbeat, rating Vauban and Absurde as his best Melbourne team yet, having saddled Max Dynamite to finish second in the race in 2015 and third two years later.

He told www.racing.com: “I think he’s (Vauban) as good as Max Dynamite and maybe better, we’ll find out that on Tuesday.

“It’s our strongest chance ever, it probably will be my strongest chance ever.

“We wouldn’t want to forget Absurde either, he did it very well with Frankie (Dettori) in the Ebor, Frankie gave him a terrific ride there.

“He has quarantined very well, and I think he’s in great shape.”

There are no British-trained runners this year, with Joseph O’Brien’s Okita Soushi the only other European contender, but there are plenty of familiar names in the line up with last year’s winner Gold Trip going again for Ciaron Maher and David Eustace, while Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott run 2020 Derby hero Serpentine and Chris Waller has last year’s Irish Oaks victor Magical Lagoon.

The Maher and Eustace team field five, with Hollie Doyle getting the leg up on former French runner Future History for the training duo.

Michelle Payne is the only woman to have ridden a Melbourne Cup winner having steered home Prince Of Penzance in 2015 and Doyle would love to add her name to the roll of honour on her first attempt.

She said: “I’m really excited to be coming to Melbourne and having a ride in the Cup on such a horse with a live chance as in Future History – it’s great for connections to have put me up.

“Obviously, with only 50kg, anything can happen in the Cup and, obviously, you need a lot of luck!

“I’ve spoken a little bit to Peter Trainor (owner), but I’ve been keeping myself up-to-date and following Future History and took an in-depth look into his career so far to get to know him.

“I think he’s got a great chance – he’ll obviously have to take a step forward again, but he seems to have been taking the right steps recently.

“He’s a Bart Cummings winner around Flemington, which is a plus – he’s got that experience on the track.

“He needs to prove he can stay the two miles, which I think he should do. His run in the (Moonee Valley) Gold Cup last week was very solid, around a track that’s probably quite sharp for him, and from a bad draw.”

Caulfield Cup winner Without A Fight, ex-William Haggas runner Soulcombe and Japanese contender Breakup are others to the fore in the betting.

Sir Bob snatched success in the final strides of the Paddy Power Cork Grand National Handicap Chase.

The Robert Tyner-trained gelding was a 9-1 chance under Simon Torrens for the Listed staying event over three miles and four furlongs.

The 11-year-old had not won since December 2022 and narrowly missed out on a valuable prize when just beaten in the Colm Quinn BMW Handicap Chase at the Punchestown Festival in April.

Success was not assured at Cork until the closing seconds of the race, when Sir Bob edged past Barry Connell’s Call The Tune, the 5-2 favourite, to prevail by a short head.

“That was grand and great that it worked out as his jumping kept him in it,” said Tyner.

“He is inclined to be lazy through his races but once he was there turning in, I thought he had a great chance.

“Staying is his job and he was unlucky in Punchestown when only beaten in a photo finish having been jumped across at the last fence. This is well deserved and he is tough.

“We were happy with his first run back over hurdles but disappointed with his second run, although today’s extra distance helped.

“This is my first time winning this race, it is a good pot and he is an 11-year-old, so it is great to get it. He is getting near the edge in handicaps now but we’ll look to the Porterstown Chase and to longer-distance hurdles now.”

Letsbeclearaboutit continued to make strides in his chasing career with a decisive success in the Paddy Power Feel Like A Favourite Irish EBF Novice Chase.

Gavin Cromwell’s eight-year-old made a winning debut over fences at Gowran in late September, with the form subsequently franked when the second-placed horse, Largy Debut, was runner up in the Munster National.

Letsbeclearaboutit lined up as the 5-4 favourite at Cork and duly delivered when scoring by 10 lengths after a prominent passage through the race and a neat round of jumping under Sean Flanagan.

“He was very good and looks an out-and-out chaser,” Cromwell said.

“You’d have to be excited by him and it was very straightforward for Sean, 11st 2lb is Keith’s (Donoghue) minimum weight so he missed the ride.

“We’ll probably give him a Drinmore entry, it’s four weeks away and that’s what’s on my mind at the moment.

“I don’t think he needs to go three miles, as he has plenty of gears and he loves jumping.”

Enda Bolger enjoyed a Listed victory on the same card when Solitary Man scored by two and a half lengths in the Paddy Power “I Still Call It Twitter” Irish EBF Novice Hurdle.

Darragh O’Keeffe did the steering and rode the five-year-old to a smooth success.

“Darragh said he’s manning up all the time and his jumping is excellent,” Bolger said.

“After the last day here, I was saying that he had been busy enough and would we leave him alone, but I just saw the entries and said we’d have a shot at it. It was a good call and good prize money to get.

“I don’t know what I’ll do now – he definitely likes nice ground and I’d prefer to put him away. He’s only five and if they’re good, they’re worth minding, so we mightn’t see him now until the spring.

“Fences will be his real thing, so maybe we could eventually look at a beginners’ chase at Killarney.”

Colin Keane was crowned champion jockey in Ireland for the fourth successive year – and fifth in all – at the Curragh on Sunday.

Keane took a stranglehold on the championship from August onwards and was able to compete over the last few weeks of the season stress-free.

While he did not manage to win a Group One this season, he did win the Group Two Minstrel Stakes on Zarinsk for his boss Ger Lyons.

With Lyons not as prolific this year as in recent times, Keane struck up relationships with the likes of Noel Meade, Willie Mullins and Henry de Bromhead, while he also rode six winners for his father, Gerry.

For the second year running, Keane’s closest challenger was Billy Lee.

He said: “I suppose it was a little bit more enjoyable this year, I was certainly able to relax these last few weeks.

“I got a good lead in August which was a big help and thankfully I was able to win it for a fifth time.

“Unfortunately Ger hasn’t had the firepower that he’s usually had, but thankfully the likes of Noel Meade, my father and Michael O’Callaghan have all chipped in and my agent, Ruaidhri Tierney, has done a great job.

“Zarinsk was a great filly this year, she won her Listed (race), a Group Three and a Group Two and that’s important for a filly like her.

“The highlight would have to be riding a first Royal Ascot winner (Villanova Queen) or riding a winner for my father here on Champions Weekend (Crystal Black) for a great bunch of lads

“Any day you ride a winner, you are enjoying it.

“I’ll keep going from now to Christmas and then take a break in the new year.”

Jamie Powell claimed the leading apprentice title having ridden 28 winners, which put him 13th overall in the jockeys’ championship.

He said: “I’ve received so much support from so many people since I’ve started.

“I didn’t really sit on a racehorse until I was 16 or 17 and didn’t do pony racing. I went to the Racing Academy in Kildare Town and I got going from there and was sent out to Patrick Prendergast and then he joined up with John Oxx.

“I learned plenty in there and riding work with the likes of Niall McCullagh, who has been a big help to me.

“I then joined Johnny Murtagh and have been there for two or three years now. He gives me plenty of feedback watching back races and is able to tell me where I’m going wrong.

“The Curragh is right on my doorstep and I’ve gone racing here since I was a kid. It’s been very lucky for me and I’ve won big handicaps here this year on Aussie Girl and Tawaazon, so to be crowned champion apprentice here is great.”

Aidan O’Brien took the trainers’ title for a 26th time, having won the Irish Derby and Irish Champion Stakes with Auguste Rodin, the Irish 2,000 Guineas with Paddington and the Irish Oaks with Savethelastdance in another stellar campaign.

Royal Ascot winner Burdett Road made an immediate impression on his hurdles bow with a clear-cut victory at Huntingdon.

Winner of the Golden Gates Stakes for Michael Bell in June, Burdett Road then tackled the Gordon Stakes at Goodwood before finishing third to Passenger in the Winter Hill Stakes.

Subsequently gelded and transferred to the care of James Owen by owners the Gredley Family, Burdett Road was sent off the 4-9 favourite in the Follow Us On Twitter @betrhino Juvenile Hurdle and he made short work of five rivals in the hands of Harry Cobden.

Though not foot perfect at the first attempt, Burdett Road galloped home 12 lengths clear of Palio and is a 33-1 chance with Paddy Power for the Triumph Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival in March.

Owen said: “It can only go wrong when they are odds-on like that, but he had done lots of schooling at home. He was a keen horse on the Flat and that is why we put the hood on him.

“The plan was to go to Warwick, but as the ground was going to be so soft there we decided to come here. He has learnt a lot, but he will be better in a truer run race. 

“We all know that he has got an engine and we have got to just keep teaching him now. 

“I would have loved to have seen him settle better, but he did switch off fine when he got to the front and he jumped fine on the whole, with the exception of a couple of little mistakes.

“As far as juveniles go first time out, that was OK. He got the job done and he was not for stopping.

“So much thanks go to the Gredley family for sending him to me. That has relieved the pressure a bit. Let’s hope we can keep building on that.”

The Grade Two JCB Triumph Trial Juvenile Hurdle at Cheltenham on November 18 could now be the plan for Burdett Road. 

Owen said: “If it is not deep ground in a couple of weeks’ time we will go for the Triumph Hurdle trial at Cheltenham and learn a bit more about him. 

“He needs education, and he is not a horse that wants to be running too fresh. He had plenty of Flat runs and he improved almost every time he ran. 

“I don’t think the track at Cheltenham will pose any problems to him. I just hope he is a bit more amenable.”

Cobden told Racing TV: “He’s a very good horse. He’s done a lot of things wrong there, but still won with his head in his chest.

“I was confident, I knew there was one down my inside but I had so much horse left under me it wasn’t a problem. He’s definitely a Triumph Hurdle horse anyway, I’m confident of that.”

Cobden, who was celebrating his 25th birthday, went on to register a double aboard the Paul Nicholls-trained Mofasa (5-4 favourite) in the Premier League Offers At Rhino.Bet Novices’ Limited Handicap Chase.

Thunder Rock got his season off to a perfect start with victory in the Colin Parker Memorial Intermediate Chase at Carlisle.

The seven-year-old was placed in graded company on multiple occasions last term after winning his first two outings over fences, rounding off his campaign with a length-and-three-quarter second in an Ayr Grade Two.

Beauport and Monbeg Genius were both non runners in the Carlisle, leaving just four runners to go to post with Thunder Rock sent off the 11-8 favourite in the hands of Sean Bowen.

Mahler Mission set out to make all in his usual style and it looked as though he might well prevail with two fences to jump as both Thunder Rock and Bill Baxter were under pressure.

However, Thunder Rock kept finding for Bowen on the run to the last, taking the final obstacle slightly ahead before pulling away from Mahler Mission on the run to the line to win by three and a half lengths. Bill Baxter was a further 10 lengths back in third, with the other runner, Bass Rock, pulled up.

Thunder Rock won four of his six hurdles starts for trainer Olly Murphy in the 2021-22 season and the trainer admitted he could well have turned the gelding’s attentions back to the smaller obstacles had he met with defeat in Cumbria.

He said: “He’s a horse with a big engine and we were kind of coming here today thinking if he wins, great, but if he doesn’t we will probably go back over hurdles. You can see he’s not the most robust horse in the world but he’s a got a big heart and he wants it and when a horse wants it, you’re sort of three-quarters of the way there.

“Where we go from today, I haven’t a clue. I discussed the Coral Gold Cup at Newbury with Max (McNeill, part-owner) and I just thought maybe a 20-runner handicap probably wouldn’t be for him. He’s (rated) 146 and I would imagine he will go up to the guts of 150 after today.

“I don’t know, off his rating he’s a horse that probably wants to step up into proper open graded company. There’s a Grade Two at Ascot over Christmas, I don’t know, something along the lines of that and see where we go.

“It’s very early to be talking about the Ryanair, but it’s the first step up the ladder, he’s a horse we will definitely keep chasing for the time being.

“He’s a gritty horse and I would love to have another 10 like him, he has a fantastic attitude, Sean got a good tune out of him and he’s giving his owners a lot of fun.”

McNeill is looking forward to seeing how far Thunder Rock can go now he is set on a chasing course.

He said: “It was a bit of a cup final for him today in terms of where do we go. You know, you’re standing at the station and could we go left or right – do we stick over hurdles if he didn’t run well today or were we going to keep over fences?

“On that performance, he missed the third last a bit, but I think he’s going to have to stay over fences. He’s an exciting prospect, he really is – I mean he was nearly there last year wasn’t he?”

Paddy Power cut Johnnywho to 16-1 from 20s for the Ballymore Novices’ Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival following an easy victory in the Beaumont Novices’ Hurdle.

Trained by Jonjo O’Neill and ridden by his son Jonjo jnr, the 4-5 favourite beat Moon D’Orange by two lengths having barely come off the bridle.