The brother to legendary two-miler Sprinter Sacre may not have blown the Newbury crowds away on debut, but Nicky Henderson left the track quietly pleased with his performance.
Flinteur Sacre, a compact lookalike of one of the highest-rated horses ever, was no match for the well-supported Your Darling (9/2) in the Premier Food Courts Standard Open National Hunt Flat Race.
Carrying his head in a proud fashion like his imperious relative in the parade ring, the five-year-old travelled smoothly in the finale and the select crowd started to raise their decibels as he loomed up with a few furlongs to go.
Sprinter Sacre's former jockey Nico de Boinville was in front at that stage however and there he stayed, as the runner-up showed his inexperience by hanging left inside the final furlong.
"Because of who he is (Flinteur Sacre) people expect to see some kind of rocket that's going to fly past the world," Henderson said afterwards.
"He has run a fantastic first race.
"They like the winner a lot. I'm very pleased.
"It was great."
The feeling was Flinteur Sacre might just have bumped into a smart opponent, judging by Ben Pauling's post-race reaction.
The dual Cheltenham Festival-winning trainer was sent the son of Shirocco by Lord Vestey, whose daughter Mary used to be Pauling's assistant.
Your Darling was sourced by Henrietta Knight, who trained Best Mate to win three Gold Cups and the successful owner is her brother-in-law.
"It has been a long time since I have had a bumper horse like this," said Pauling.
"We are chuffed to pieces.
"We had seen plenty at home but it means a lot more seeing it on the course and it's fabulous for the Vesteys.
"I think a huge amount of Bright Forecast and this lad would be up there with him."
Your Darling was introduced into Betfair's Champion Bumper market at 25/1, a route the trainer stated would not be his preferred choice at this stage.
