Knight fingers crossed after Bleu success Top trainer lands first leg of fine double, now it's all eyes on Ireland

The words, last, and laugh, will be widely used if the pair return from Leopardstown tomorrow with the first prize from the Ericsson Chase.

Even if they fail, the emotional scenes after yesterday's win by the 11-year-old, who is a huge favourite at the stable, illustrated just how much it meant to them as the old champion thrilled the big Boxing Day Kempton crowd after looking beaten before the turn for home.

Edredon Bleu had set the pace from the off, with First Gold close behind, and when the French horse took over nearing the end of the back straight, it seemed certain that Edredon's suspect stamina would be confirmed and he would fade out of contention.

That proved completely wrong. The 11-year-old came back to overtake First Gold and then flew the last two fences to hold off Tiutchev by a length-and-a-half, with First Gold two lengths behind in third.

''He is unbelievable,'' said his trainer. ''He never had a fair trial in this race three years [when he finished sixth] because the ground was soft. We always knew he would stay three miles. He is gutsy, so economical, and he just won't say no.''

For jockey Jim Culloty, who will be guiding Best Mate tomorrow, it was consolation for missing the race last year on when Best Mate won.

He said: ''First Gold came by me but I couldn't rush him at that stage. Then Tiutchev came at me and I pushed him forward. From then on, he was never going to get beat.''

The favourite, French horse Jair du Cochet, made a dreadful blunder at the third fence which all but ended his race. It might as well have because he never got into the contest and was eventually pulled.

''This was too bad to be true,'' said Guillaume Macaire, his trainer. ''At the third fence, I knew it was going to be dis-aster.''

Contrastingly, fellow French trainer Francois Doumen was upbeat after First Gold's third- place performance. ''I am not at all disappointed,'' he said. ''That was his comeback race and his target remains the Gold Cup.''

Rooster Booster, the champion hurdler, beaten first time out, was outrun from the last in the Christmas Hurdle by Intersky Falcon, who was very impressive. The Jono O'Neill stable clearly decided to try hold-up tactics in the former front-runner and it paid off in great style.

Earlier, Strong Flow demonstrated that he still has a bit to learn about the jumping game when he made two major blunders before finishing with two superb leaps to outdo the game and consistent Ballycassidy. The 4-11 shot had crashed through the second fence and made a similar hash of the obstacle before the water jump in the Feltham Chase, but the Hennessy Gold Cup winner will have learned a great from those mistakes.

At Ayr, doubles for trainers Lucinda Russell Nicky Richards proved the highlights of the day.

Michael Naughton rode both of the Russell winners. Strong Resolve beat off the challenge of Martin Todhunter's candidate All Sonsilver to win the Giles Insurance Handicap and Glenfarclas Boy did a similar job in outstaying Just Sooty in the Mulled Wine Classified Chase.

Cordilla came with a late run to win the Beginners Chase for Richards, whose second success came with Paperprophet in the Famous Grouse Hurdle.

l Brooklyn Breeze, trained in the borders by Len Lungo, could be out of action for the season with a leg injury which was discovered shortly after his impressive debut success over fences at Carlisle.

He is a leading contender for the Royal & SunAlliance Chase at Cheltenham, but Lungo said: ''He sustained a minor injury which showed up a week after his win at Carlisle and he's still resting. The jury is out as to whether he'll come back before the end of the season.''