Another Aintree success for JP McManus and his horse Khayrawani was made distinctly bittersweet by the death of McManus' other runner in the Oddbins Handicap Hurdle, Budalus, at the last flight.
The two horses were almost upsides, and looked set to fight out the finish, when Budalus clipped the top of the hurdle, threw Charlie Swan clear, then broke his neck in a horrific fall.
Khayrawani went on to win the race for the second successive year and justify considerable market support, but his rider, Fran Berry, spoke for everyone when he said: "It's very unfortunate for Charlie, who also trained the horse. My impression is that my horse would have caught him on the run in, but it is very sad."
Spurred on by McManus' good first day, the betting market was hit with considerable support for his runners Shannon Gale and King Wah Glory, but the money stayed in the satchels.
Shannon Gale looked beaten well before the straight and was pulled up before the second last in the Sefton Novices Hurdle, which went to the other joint favourite, King's Road.
King Wah Glory, also backed down to joint favourite in the last despite not having run since October 1997, never got in a blow behind the easy winner Edelweis Du Moulin.
Apart from Khayrawani, the best Irish performance yesterday came from Tony Martin's Linden's Lotto, who was prominent throughout with Listen Timmy in the John Hughes Trophy but who eventually went down by three lengths.
His Song reportedly gurgled during the Mumm Mildmay Chase and was never a factor behind Spendid, who galloped to an eight-length victory over Village King. Nevertheless, His Song could yet run at Punchestown equipped with a tongue tie.
Direct Route took a thrilling Mumm Melling Chase from Mulligan and the favourite, Call Equiname, with the Irish mare Opera Hat fourth.
John Fowler hopes to race Opera Hat against Florida Pearl at Punchestown, depending on the ground. Otherwise, this will have been her last contest before a stud career and Fowler said: "She is just getting older but owes us nothing."
As expected, Barton won the opener, but not before being given a fright by Auetaler.
It looked a question of how far the 2 to 7 shot would win by as they raced to the second-last flight but in the end he was all out to beat Auetaler by two lengths.
Trainer Tim Easterby was relieved that the gelding had prevailed and he said: "The pressure was on because you never know whether a Cheltenham Festival race will take it's toll. I think we will give Punchestown a miss now."
William Hill left Barton at 10 to 1 mark for next year's Champion Hurdle.
