I’M not sure whose in charge of the Christmas lights in Exeter, but they won’t do a better job of dazzling the locals than Greaneteen (Paul Nicholls/Harry Cobden) did on Friday, with the 2020 hero putting up a scintillating show of front-running and bold jumping which saw him beat stablemate Dolos (Lorcan Williams) by seven lengths, with Arkle fourth War Lord twice that distance back in third.

Nicholls warned that Greaneteen faced a difficult task conceding more than a stone to all his rivals, but said he was fitter than when fourth in the race 12 months ago.