The Changing Man makes the most of Jingko Blue departure

The Changing Man ran his rivals ragged to claim a wide-margin victory in the Grade Two Ebony Horse Club Reynoldstown Novices’ Chase at Ascot.

After odds-on favourite Jingko Blue parted company with Nico de Boinville early on, Brendan Powell set a strong gallop on The Changing Man and gradually established a sizeable advantage.

Peaky Boy cried enough before the fourth-last and although Leave Of Absence tried to chase down the runaway leader, he never looked like landing a telling blow.

The Changing Man, who had been second in each of his last three races, kept up the gallop to run out a 24-length winner at 7-2.

Winning trainer Joe Tizzard said: “This race was talked about for some time and we’ve done the right thing. He’s only a novice for the next couple of months and he will be entered for the Brown Advisory.

“He deserves to take us to the big days out and he’s become sure-footed and assured.

“He made some silly mistakes last season and again in the Badger Beer, but he couldn’t have done it more impressively here. It was a novice chase and you have to jump round.”

A dejected Nicky Henderson suggested Jingko Blue could possibly make a swift reappearance at Kempton next weekend, adding: “It’s frustrating to say the least.

“We thought we had a great chance but we also hoped it would tell us where to go. Kempton is the only place I can think of, we’ll see how he is. It’s still a bit raw.”

In contrast to his Seven Barrows counterpart, it was an afternoon to remember for Tizzard, with the Powell-ridden First Confession (2-1) taking the Betfair Racing Podcasts Novices’ Hurdle.

Tizzard said: “We went to the Challow hoping for a place, but he never went a stride. He’s a different horse now and what I like about him is there’s nothing flashy, he’s a no-nonsense horse who gets on and does it.

“I’m going to use that old cliche of ‘I can’t wait to put him over fences’ – and you never know, he could be back here for the Reynoldstown in 12 months.

“Right now, I see no reason why we shouldn’t run him in the Albert Bartlett (at Cheltenham). It will be a nice day out for his owners.”