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Nigel Twiston-Davies’ highly exciting youngster Potters Charm further enhanced his reputation when winning the William Hill Formby Novices’ Hurdle at Aintree on Boxing Day

The Nigel Twiston-Davies-trained gelding arrived with an unblemished record under Rules, and he was subsequently sent off an even-money chance to make his first outing in Grade 1 company a winning one.

A comfortable success at Cheltenham's October meeting proceeded an impressive eleven-length triumph in the Grade 2 Albert Bartlett Novices' Hurdle back at Prestbury Park a month later, sending him right towards the top of the pile in the novices' hurdle division.

Nigel Twiston-Davies' five-year-old was dropping back to two miles for the first time over hurdles, but he showed plenty of natural pace to lay up with the front-running Roadlesstravelled and Celtic Dino before readily seeing off Miami Magic, who emerged as a major danger down in the straight, by two-and-a quarter-lengths in the hands of Sam Twiston-Davies.

Paddy Power cut the winner to 8/1 (from 14s) for the Turners Novices' Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival in March, while the same firm introduced him as a 14/1 shot for the Supreme Novices' Hurdle.

Willy Twiston-Davies, assistant trainer to his father, said: "He has done nothing wrong. To drop back to two miles and win so impressively….the horse does the talking and it's very exciting.

"He has always gone nicely, and his work (at home) is finally starting to improve after his last run.

"We thought he was very nice going to Ffos Las and then that's when we woke up and thought we might have something very special. First time out over hurdles at Worcester I was a bit disappointed because I thought he was a certainty and he only won by three lengths but like Sam said he only does enough in front. He is a very, very talented horse.

"I spoke to Paul Nicholls and Dan Skelton and talked about how the Challow (Novices' Hurdle at Newbury) can finish a horse for the season, so I thought by coming here we could drop him in trip and sharpen up his jumping.

"We will now go back up to two and a half miles at Cheltenham (for the Turners Novices' Hurdle) and he won't have a run beforehand. He has proved himself by winning a Grade 1 and a Grade 2. We hoped we had another The New One and it looks like we have. It's great to win a Grade 1 over Christmas as, like Sam said, we haven't had one for a while and he puts our stable back in the lights."

Sam Twiston-Davies added: "You are always nervous coming into a race like this. It was his on paper to go and lose and thankfully he hasn't.

"We thought that if we are going to go to Cheltenham with any kind of realistic chance, he needs to do things quicker so we decided to run him over an inadequate trip and make him do it. The good thing was he made some brilliant jumps down the back. He was awful three out and two out and was then clever at the last. Hopefully the experience won't be lost on him come March.

"He has always been a good jumper but just a little but big. When you go The Festival, you want a horse that can jump with pace and not make any fiddly little errors or getting too high in the air. Hopefully he is ironed that out now and will go to Cheltenham with a right chance."