JPR One stamped his class on the Download The Racing App Now Lightning Novices’ Chase at Lingfield.

A winner on his chasing debut at Newton Abbot in October, Joe Tizzard’s charge looked set to follow up in the Arkle Trial at Cheltenham the following month when unseating Brendan Powell at the final fence.

In December, he finished a creditable third in the Grade One Henry VIII Novices’ Chase at Sandown and got back on the winning trail in this Grade Two event, which was saved and rescheduled following the abandonment of the opening day of the Winter Million Festival on Friday.

There was drama from the off, with Matata hanging violently left on the approach to the first fence, badly impeding the 9-4 favourite Djelo, who had nowhere to go and ultimately came to grief.

Matata attempted to make every yard of the running from that point on, but 6-1 shot JPR One took over travelling strongly five fences from home and looked in control for the remainder of the race.

Matata did his best to make a race of it in the home straight and was making inroads on an idling JPR One late on, but the latter was good value for the winning margin of half a length.

Tizzard said: “He was really good today. I’m not making too many excuses for Sandown, I just think he got stuck in the Sandown ground, which you can.

“We had a little walk down the straight today and I was amazed by how well it walked. It was an easy watch today, he travelled great and jumped for fun and that’s the horse we think we’ve got up against the best two-mile novices in England anyway.

“We’ve always held him in pretty high regard and he perhaps didn’t get to the levels over hurdles, but certainly over fences, if he didn’t have that little stumble at the back of the last at Cheltenham, he was going to look majorly impressive.

“I think the ground at Sandown just took its toll but today is the best we’ve seen him and he’s got a fair bit about him on the day.

“He’s got so much athleticism and Brendan has got the hang of not getting too excited – and you could tell he enjoyed that today. We think he’s a smart horse with a big future.”

Coral cut JPR One to 16-1 from 25-1 for the Arkle Trophy and Tizzard confirmed that Cheltenham Festival contest as his next objective.

He added: “We’ll have to take him to the Arkle now, he deserves to be there.

“He’s only a novice for one year, so I would have thought we would have a crack at it. He’s already proved he runs well around Cheltenham, so I don’t know why we wouldn’t.”

Brendan Powell is backing JPR One to make amends for a final-fence blunder last time out when he returns for the Betfair Henry VIII Novices’ Chase at Sandown Park on Saturday.

The Joe Tizzard-trained gelding looked to be en route to Grade Two success in the Arkle Challenge Trophy Trial Novices’ Chase at Cheltenham last month but made an error at the last and unseated his rider.

Connections will regroup at the weekend for the Henry VIII, success in which would be a first at the Grade One level for Powell after multiple placings throughout his career.

“I’m really looking forward to riding JPR One again as he looked like he was going to be an impressive winner at Cheltenham before making a mistake and getting rid of me at the last fence,” he said.

“This is a race that will take a bit of winning, but I wouldn’t want to be on any other horse and hopefully I can make up for what happened at Cheltenham on Saturday.

“I think I’ve been second in seven or eight Grade Ones, but I don’t think I’ve ridden in a Grade One where I’ve had a proper live chance, but this weekend I do and that makes it even more exciting.

“It is something I want to get on my CV, and it is something I want to achieve before I finish my career.

“To win a Grade One for Joe would mean just as much to me as winning a Grade One for myself. I think Joe was a big influence on me riding for the Tizzard team again.

“I’ll always be grateful to him for that and to repay him with a Grade One win would be amazing.”

Though the Cheltenham mishap was costly, the six-year-old otherwise ran a pleasing race and has taken to chasing well after a successful hurdling career.

“That was the frustrating thing as he didn’t put a foot wrong the whole way around at Cheltenham,” Powell said.

“He jumped and travelled and quickened well turning in. He has got all the attributes to be a good horse.

“He gave me a good spin at Newton Abbot on his debut over fences and I was quite surprised the price he was that day as well. He was seriously well handicapped that day if he came back to form over fences.

“The most important thing for our novice chasers is that they have a nice time and a good experience first time over fences. He did that and managed to win as well, which was a bonus.

“Hopefully on Saturday he should be good enough to be there, or thereabouts, at the back end of the race, then I suppose it will be then when we find out if he is good enough.”

Joe Tizzard will work back from the Arkle with JPR One, certain he has a top-class operator in the novice chasing division following his agonising last-fence stumble at Cheltenham on Friday.

The six-year-old was in the process of putting up a huge display in the Grade Two Arkle Trial, displaying tremendous scope at his obstacles as Brendan Powell took no prisoners on the front end.

However, disaster struck when three lengths clear at the last when, although getting over the obstacle successfully, he stumbled on landing, unseating his jockey with the race at his mercy.

Tizzard reports JPR One is 100 per cent fine following the incident and is now looking forward to seeing his charge make his mark as the season progresses.

“He’s fine, that’s the main thing, he trotted up beautifully,” said Tizzard.

“He didn’t do anything wrong and he jumped so well for all of it, he didn’t even make a mistake at the last, he was just a bit unlucky.

“He was putting up a hell of a performance. I’ve been in the game long enough and I’ve been on the receiving end and I’ve been the beneficiary, but I think he would have been super impressive and I’ve got a super nice horse to go to war with.

“On official ratings, we need to find a bit and it wasn’t the strongest Grade Two in the world, but the way he was doing it, and the way he jumped, makes me seriously excited.

“We have always loved the horse and knew he would be a better chaser. He’s got low mileage and we have purposely delayed things with him and he’s got a very exciting future.”

Next up for JPR One could be further Pattern-race action in the Betfair Henry VIII Novices’ Chase at Sandown on December 9, but the main day circled in Tizzard’s calendar is the opening day of the Cheltenham Festival in March, where the gelding could seek Prestbury Park redemption in the Arkle.

“We’ll have a look at that (Sandown) and the only thing in the back of my mind is if you go and something happened there as well, you will regret it,” added Tizzard.

“But if he hadn’t had a little stumble after the last, he would have won well and I would be saying we would 100 per cent be going there. We’ll just take stock for a few days and he will definitely have an entry.

“Kempton at Christmas (Wayward Lad Novices’ Chase, December 27) is certainly on the agenda, but I haven’t had an in-depth look. I was looking forward to Friday.

“In the two-mile division in England I respect them, but I wouldn’t be afraid to take them on.

“Eldorado Allen won the race on Friday and was second in an Arkle and I think that this lad has more pace than him, so we will work back from March.”

JPR One could have been found the perfect opportunity to showcase his class over the larger obstacles in the SSS Super Alloys Arkle Challenge Trophy Trial Novices’ Chase at Cheltenham.

The six-year-old has always been held in high regard by trainer Joe Tizzard and the team at Venn Farm, but injury has hindered his progress and delayed the start of his chasing career by a season.

A winner of four of his eight starts, JPR One now takes the next step up the fencing ladder after a successful debut in his new discipline at Newton Abbot last month.

“He was impressive the last day and this is obviously a step up, but I was quite keen to keep him at two miles as he showed plenty of pace and jumped well at Newton Abbot,” said Tizzard.

“Soft ground over two miles should be ideal for him. He had a school on Wednesday morning and schooled lovely and this is the next step.

“He got an injury last autumn which held us up and stopped us going novice chasing and he’s only a six-year-old now, so it might have been a blessing in disguise.

“He bounced back and won at Taunton and then went to Aintree. He’s a strong horse now who has always jumped well. I’m excited about him.”

Champion Chase winner Put The Kettle On (2019) and Joseph O’Brien’s Banbridge 12 months ago have both taken this prize back to Ireland in recent years and looking to join them on the roll of honour is Cian Collins’ Mighty Tom.

The eight-year-old had to settle for second behind Gavin Cromwell’s Letsbeclearaboutit in a Cork Grade Three on his chasing debut and brings some smart hurdling form to the table.

“He probably bumped into a Grade One horse at Cork last time and the drop back to two miles will suit him on Friday,” said Collins.

“The ground will be nicer on Friday which will be to his liking, it is just the 12 days since his last start that is the biggest worry. But I’m happy with him and hopefully he will handle it.”

There are only four going to post for the Grade Two contest with Jonjo O’Neill’s Petit Tonnerre and Oliver Greenall and Josh Guerriero’s Homme Public completing the quartet.

The latter took on an experienced cast when making a successful first start over the larger obstacles on good ground at Wetherby and his training team are hoping for similar conditions at Prestbury Park.

“He definitely seemed to improve for fences (at Wetherby), he just wouldn’t want it too soft,” said Greenall.

“He’ll take his chance and I would say he enjoyed the ground at Wetherby as well. It should be ideal for him.”