Epatante justified strong market support to provide trainer Nicky Henderson with a record eighth victory in the Unibet Champion Hurdle.
Few would have marked the six-year-old down as a likely contender for the two-mile hurdling crown following an abject display in the Mares Novices’ Hurdle at last year’s Cheltenham Festival.
However, after following up a sparkling seasonal reappearance at Newbury with an equally impressive success in the Christmas Hurdle at Kempton, the JP McManus-owned mare was sent off the the well-supported 2-1 favourite.
Always travelling well in the hands of Barry Geraghty, Epatante loomed into contention before taking over the lead from Darver Star at the final flight.
Sharjah came from a long way back to throw down a challenge on the run-in, but Epatante never looked in serious danger of being caught and passed the post a facile winner.
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