Brendan Powell celebrated his 500th success as a trainer when Award Winner did the business at Uttoxeter.
The JP McManus-owned gelding was winning for the ninth time when getting home at odds of 12-1 in the 32Red Casino Handicap Hurdle.
Award Winner was always going well in the hands of Tony McCoy before gaining a healthy advantage at the last to score by a length and three-quarters from Always Bold.
As a jockey, Powell rode Rhyme ‘n’ Reason to win the Grand National in 1988.
“He’s a smashing horse,” he said of Award Winner. “He’s had plenty of problems but he is what he is. I think nothing else went on the ground and he did.
“He wins his two or three for us every year and he’s done it again.
“I’ve been training for 12 years and we average around 45 to 50 winners a year.
“When you’ve got a yard with 35 to 40 horses, as long as we can keep it going we’ll be happy.
“That was my 25th winner for JP (McManus) as well, so that was nice. AP (McCoy) has been good to me over the years. He does some schooling for me and it’s nice to give him a winner.”