RACING/Aintree report: Cross-channel entente may not be very cordial at the moment but Thierry Doumen was entitled to a little Gallic shrug of vindication at Liverpool yesterday.

The 22-year-old rider has in the past endured some cuts from British and Irish critics that at the very least contained more than a little ignorance. At worse they bordered on jingoism despite the evidence of three Cheltenham Festival victories.

Doing something differently is not the same as doing it wrong but as Doumen found out on First Gold in the Martell Cup doing it perfectly tends to rule out any argument.

First Gold was nothing less than perfect in making most of the running and leaving some top British and Irish chasers 14 lengths and more in his wake.

It was his first success since winning the same race two years ago and also a timely reminder of the level of talent that earned a King George victory in 2000 and a sizeable purchase price from JP McManus into the bargain.

At times McManus must have doubted the value of that reported half a million pounds outlay but Doumen and First Gold provided a display which would be hard to price up.

First time blinkers and the appearance of a farrier to replace a shoe at the start was not an auspicious prelude but afterwards the combination was foot perfect.

The initial reaction was to credit the improvement to the blinkers but Doumen's father, Francois, gently dispensed some crow for various people to tuck into as well.

"I thought Thierry gave him a brilliant ride," he said simply. "The horse ran for him and they know each other so well. It's wonderful teamwork." Another factor was the disappearance of a shoulder problem that has plagued First Gold and Doumen Jnr beamed: "He feels like the First Gold of two years ago again. But I want to thank JP for not losing faith."

There were certainly a lot more believers after the race and Paddy Power handed First Gold a 16 to 1 quote for next year's Gold Cup. But before that Doumen could bring his star to Ireland for the third time this season for the Irish National.

Commanche Court ended up third which was typical of a largely frustrating day for the Irish. The exception was in the Mersey Hurdle where the 12 to 1 shot Leinster carried the Cathal Ryan colours to a gutsy defeat of Crystal D'Ainay.

The favourite, Coolnagorna, was leading at the third last when taking a fatal fall under Barry Geraghty.

"He looked the best bumper horse in Ireland when he won at Punchestown last year but he hasn't had the ground since. He'll go back to Punchestown now," said trainer Dessie Hughes.

Mouse Morris had the second and third in the opener, and Fairwood Heart was back in fourth, but the win went to the Tony McCoy-ridden Carlovent.

In contrast to Doumen McCoy's press can sometimes make him seem capable of paddling in a puddle without getting his feet wet.

Nevertheless, there was a certain symmetry to his later success in the Red Rum Chase on Golden Alpha, the horse that broke his the champion jockey's collar bone at Cheltenham.

But there was little pretty about the first encounter of the week with the fearsome "Chair" fence in a Foxhunters that was ultimately won by Divert Hill.

The pace-setting Winter Whisper almost seemed to head butt the huge obstacle and behind him four more horses came down, including the Irish favourite Sheltering.

Remarkably there were no injures to the horses but Sheltering's rider Gordon Elliot sustained a suspected fracture to his right arm.

The Triumph Hurdle winner Spectroscope just failed to become the first in 24 years to complete the Aintree double and then failed to get the race in the stewards' room.

The 33 to 1 Le Duc appeared to cross Spectroscope on the run-in but held on to land the Grade Two novices' hurdle for Paul Nicholls who saddles the favourites Ad Hoc and Shotgun Willy in the National.