Racing: Binocular turned in an impressive display of jumping under Tony McCoy as he powered to victory in the williamhill.com Christmas Hurdle at Kempton.
Nicky Henderson’s charge had clearly retained his good health in the three-week wait for the delayed Boxing Day feature as he raced prominently throughout.
Coming down to the last, it was merely a question of how far as he pulled clear of long-time leader Overturn to record an emphatic success.
Jason Maguire set out to make all on Overturn but McCoy evidently did not want to let him have too much rope as he kept Binocular on his heels throughout.
The reigning Champion Hurdle hero was very keen in the early exchanges and the pair set a decent pace in the Grade One event, with Binocular showing some neat jumping skills.
Three from home, the pace finally began to tell as Overturn just started to toil but while the well-backed Binocular (13-8 favourite) took it up at the penultimate flight, the gallant runner-up continued the chase.
However, Binocular hurdled the last in style and came home three and three-quarter lengths clear without McCoy having to ever really get serious.
Starluck struggled with the strong pace and was well held in third while a similar comment applied to Khyber Kim who never threatened to get in a serious blow.