Paul Nicholls could not hide his excitement as Ginny’s Destiny followed in the footsteps of Stage Star and booked his ticket to the Turners Novices’ Chase with an excellent display in the Timeform Novices’ Handicap Chase.

A useful hurdler when trained by Tom Lacey last season, he has gone from strength to strength since sent over fences by the champion trainer this term.

Attempting to replicate the exploits of Stage Star – who won this contest 12 months ago before following up at the Cheltenham Festival – Ginny’s Destiny never missed a beat as the 4-1 favourite registered a flawless two-and-three-quarter-length victory over Theatre Man.

“I was expecting that on his homework,” said Nicholls.

“He’s improved massively from run to run and I haven’t had too many improve so much over a short period since Master Minded funnily enough. Master Minded won at Sandown years ago and kept going forward and he has done the same, his work has been unbelievable. I think he’s a really smart horse.

“From his first run when he was ordinary, he had just got better and better and better and you like to see that – there’s not many horses who do that.

“The girl who rides him every day rides Pic D’Orhy every day and she puts him on a par with him. He is 162 and if he could be as good as him, we would be really happy. He obviously jumps and gallops and that is what you want.

“I honestly thought he would win today – and I know that’s being confident – but he’s a very smart horse.”

Ginny’s Destiny was cut to 9-1 with Betfair for the Turners Novices’ Chase after winning his third-straight chase at Prestbury Park and Nicholls confirmed that a return to the Cotswolds for the Festival would be his next port of call.

“He’s a very good work horse at home, he has class, he jumps and he will come back here now for the Turners,” he continued.

“He will get three miles, but I’m not going to do that until next year. He will follow the Stage Star route now and he is a bit stronger and more robust than Stage Star. You have to train him with kid gloves whereas this lad loves his work and thrives on everything you give to him and is a proper horse.

“Stage Star carried the weight last year and if they are good enough off that mark, then it doesn’t matter what weight they are carrying. He’s a massive horse and the weight was never going to worry him and Harry gave him a peach of a ride.”

Ga Law was another horse to showcase his love for Cheltenham when making a welcome return to the winner’s enclosure in the Paddy Power Cheltenham Countdown Podcast Handicap Chase.

Jamie Snowden’s eight-year-old was a winner of the Paddy Power Gold Cup in 2022 but has found victories hard to come by since, with a crushing fall at Doncaster on his next start knocking the wind out of his sail and halting his progression.

However, he was back to his best in the hands of Gavin Sheehan to tee-up either a shot at Kempton’s Coral Trophy Handicap Chase on February 24 or a return to Prestbury Park for the Plate in March.

Snowden said: “He won the Paddy Power in 2022 and fell in the Sky Bet Chase (at Doncaster) when coming to win his race and it has taken a long time to get him back in that kind of form really – he lost his confidence and lost his way a little bit.

“We always thought we would get him back, but that fall at Doncaster was pretty nasty and it’s taken us a year to get him back. He ran really well in the Coral Gold Cup but just didn’t stay and the drop back in trip on the New course has helped him here today.

“He’s back now and it was lovely. He jumped really well out in front and got into a lovely rhythm. I thought the New course might suit him better than the Old course as he’s a long-striding horse and Gavin has given him a lovely ride.

“We were going to go to Kempton next, but we might have to come here instead. We will enjoy today and think about the next day tomorrow.”

Ginny’s Destiny further strengthened Paul Nicholls’ already formidable hand in the novice chase division with an all-the-way victory at Cheltenham on Friday.

The champion trainer has unearthed a particularly deep crop of young chasers to go to war with this winter, including a trio of Grade Two winners in Stay Away Fay, Knappers Hill and Hermes Allen.

This seven-year-old’s rise through the ranks has been a little more unheralded – but having impressed in handicap company at the track’s November meeting, he took the next step up the ladder with another excellent front-running display in the Cheltenham & South-West Racing Club Novices’ Chase.

The challengers queued up to have a pop at the 5-2 shot racing down the hill, but one by one he saw them off under a typically well-judged ride from Harry Cobden and he had enough up his sleeve once pressed by 2-1 favourite Grey Dawning to win the day by three-quarters of a length.

“He puts them to the sword and he keeps galloping. He had improved a lot at home and worked brilliantly the other morning,” said Nicholls.

“Claudia (Reid), who rides him and Pic D’Orhy at home, said to me he is not far behind Pic D’Orhy the way he is improving, so she might be right.

“I might look at the £75,000 race at Warwick on January 13 (Hampton Novices’ Chase), as I think three miles around Warwick would be perfect for him.

“He is a good horse. Ground-wise, the softer it is, the better for him.”

Go Dante (7-2 favourite) provided his owner Barbara Hester with a birthday winner and a first success at Cheltenham in the Catesby Estates Handicap Hurdle.

Sixth in the more competitive Greatwood Hurdle last month, Olly Murphy’s inmate hit the front two flights from home and stuck to his guns to see off Doddiethegreat by a length and a quarter in the hands of Sean Bowen.

Murphy said: “This has been a long time coming. I’m not surprised. He is one of those horses that every time he runs, I go racing thinking that he will win.

“He has obviously won his races, but just not at a level I would have liked him to. He has had a lot of issues – he has broken his pelvis, and he had a schooling incident last season.

“Something like a Betfair Hurdle is what we could look at. He has loads of ability and that was great.”

La Malmason (11-4 favourite) gave leading Irish trainer Gavin Cromwell his sixth Cheltenham winner of the season in the Cheltenham Racecourse Food Bank Collection Mares’ Handicap Chase.

Cromwell said: “She is a lovely mare and she jumped well enough. I think she is progressive. She didn’t pick up as good as I thought she would but listen, she has won.

“She unseated Keith (Donoghue) one day. When she is good, she is very good, but she has been making novicey mistakes. The last day at Down Royal, the last three fences were taken out and the winner (Found A Fifty) was very good, as he went on to be second in a Grade One.

“It is nice to see her find her feet and hopefully she can go on from here.”

The Venetia Williams-trained Cepage rolled back the years to lift the Unibet Middle Distance Chase Series Veterans’ Handicap Chase.

“He is still rattling around here at a rate of knots,” said the trainer. “All credit to the owners for giving him the time come back from various injuries. It has taken me this long to put the cheekpieces on him, but I was keen to reserve them for a decent race.

“He is a quirky horse. Jess, who is leading him up, and is my assistant, rides him all the time. Even at the age he is now, which is 11 going on 12, he has to be legged up in the barn, otherwise he might bolt. He is still daft as a brush!”

There were emotional scenes after the success of White Rhino (3-1 favourite) in the concluding Citipost Handicap Hurdle.

The training partnership of Oliver Greenall and Josh Guerriero lost one of their stable stars in the preceding Glenfarclas Crystal Cup after Gesskille, a winner over the Grand National fences in last month’s Grand Sefton, suffered a fatal injury.

Jockey Henry Brooke, who was also on board Gesskille, showed great strength of character to dust himself down and steer White Rhino to victory, but was fighting back the tears afterwards.

He said: “It’s emotional. I’ve composed myself a bit now, but I’ve had a winner at Cheltenham and I could nearly say it’s the worst day of my racing career so far.

“I’m gutted to lose that horse (Gesskille), he means so much to the whole yard, but you can’t take it away from this lad here (White Rhino) – he’s done his job.

“We’ve got to pick ourselves up. Gesskille has been a massive part of my career and I’ll be indebted to him for a long time.”

Guerriero added: “You would swap it around and not have a winner and have Gesskille back, but that is the way it is. Gesskille was a stable star and he literally put us on the map. He has been amazing. To lose him is so sad, but that is racing, unfortunately.

“White Rhino has been brilliant for these owners – he has been a star. We might try and get him qualified for the Pertemps Final and maybe come back here for the Festival.”