Faugheen's long-awaited return in Punchestown win cheered all the way over in Cheltenham

It is a measure of the esteem in which the great horses are held that when Faugheen sauntered over the line 16 lengths clear of Jezki in the Unibet Morgiana Hurdle at Punchestown yesterday, the Sunday crowd watching him on the big screen at Cheltenham gave him a round of applause.

Faugheen will have sterner tasks ahead of him this winter than a stayer like Jezki over two miles but if the 2015 Champion Hurdler’s body language said anything, after a 665-day absence, the only horse to be happier to be back on a racecourse yestyerday was Special Tiara in the Shloer Chase although he eventually paid for his enthusiasm behind Fox Norton.

Now nine and with just a single defeat in 14 starts for Willie Mullins, Faugheen made all and jumped for fun under Paul Townend who remained motionless as Jezki came off the bridle at the second last. He has now displaced Buveur d’Air, the reigning Champion, as favourite for the 2018 Champion Hurdle.

Townend replaced Ruby Walsh, whose broken leg is thought not to be as bad as it first seemed on Saturday. Townend clearly enjoyed the ride.

"This lad just devours the ground,” he said. “He’s the real deal alright.”

Mullins was also very pleased. “He jumped out and took the race from them,” he explained. “He was ready just after Punchestown (in May). He’s been very good at home and we have not had any setbacks. He had tonnes in the tank. That was great to see.”

Walsh’s leg is now in plaster after the fracture to his right fibia but De Adrian McGoldrick, the Turf Club’s chief medical officer, said there was no question about it – Walsh will be back for the Festival. “It is impossible to say how long it will be as every fracture is different but I have no doubt about him being back for Cheltenham,” he said.

With doubts about whether Nicky Henderson will get a run into Altior before the Champion Chase, the second Shloer Chase in succession for Fox Norton took on added significance and Colin Tizzard’s chaser will now head to Sandown in December for the Tingle Creek after a comfortable eight length win over Cloudy Dream.

“I suppose we were half expecting that after his last two runs of last season and this race last year,” said Tizzard. “We didn’t know about the ground but it wasn’t an issue. There’s no need to change from two miles at the moment though you shouldn’t ever pigeonhole horses – look at Kauto Star.

“He is entered in the King George but Alan Potts always wanted him kept apart from Sizing John particularly if he goes to Kempton on course for the £1m bonus. If he gets beat in the Betfair then we might think again.”

It was another step in the right direction on this side of the Irish Sea for Bryan Cooper’s career. Tizzard intimated that had the decision been his rather than the owner’s, Robbie Power would still be riding all of Potts’s horses in England.

“I’m pleased for Bryan,” said Tizzard. “He’s been under pressure, no two ways about it. Alan decided he was going to ride his horses in England and I went along with it but if I’d had my choice, it might not have been.

“He gave Finian’s Oscar a lovely ride and he was brilliant on this one, no one could have ridden him better. I hope we can continue to fill him up with confidence and we can put it out of our minds – there’s no reason he can’t ride everything.”