Trainer Alan King shrugged off any signs of jet lag as he marked his return from holiday with a winner. 

King arrived back in the UK from the Maldives on January 26, a day before Grandeur D’Ame whom he trains won the Pertemps Network Chris Ashcroft Memorial Novices’ Handicap Chase at Huntingdon. 

Jumping well up with the pace for much of the extended two-mile prize, the 7/4 favourite rallied in the day’s opening race when challenged by eventual runner-up Maninsane, before winning by a length. 

“Watching that, he will be better going left-handed but it was good to see him get his head in front,” said King. 

“I thought at the last, he was probably held but he is a horse that gets that trip really well and one that probably wants a bit further.” 

Michael Hawker celebrated the first homebred winner of his career when Spotty Dog triumphed in the Pertemps Network Novices’ Handicap Chase. 

Hawker, a beef and arable farmer by trade, made his first visit to the Huntingdon track as he secured his first winner in 648 days in the extended two miles and seven furlongs contest. 

He said: “It has been a long-winded job and it would be easier to be one, but this is so satisfying; this is quite a moment.” 

Jockey Jonjo O’Neill Junior labelled Imperial Bede as a “work in progress” following his three-and-a-quarter length success in the Pertemps Network Maiden Hurdle. 

Speaking of the 8/1 winner, trained by his father Jonjo O’Neill, O’Neill Jr said: “He was a bit off his feet to start with and he blundered the first but he worked his way into the race. 

“I think he will want further than two miles in time, but he is keen at the moment and is still a work in progress.”