Altior was a six-length winner of the Arkle Challenge Trophy, but the 1/4 favourite was forced to work for his second Cheltenham Festival win, as the Kim Bailey-trained Charbel had set a fierce gallop from the outset, before he fell late on, and duly handing Nicky Henderson's star the victory.
Nico de Boinville had elected to stay just off the pace on board Altior, who was looking to get favourite backers in the money, after Labaik caused a 25/1 shock in the Supreme Novices' Hurdle earlier in the afternoon, but the unbeaten Seven Barrows was taken out of his comfort zone by Charbel, who was running a huge race for David Bass.
However, with de Boniville just asking Altior some questions, the race changed dramatically as Charbel fell, and Altior was left in front, and a fine jump at the last sealed the victory, and he went on to beat Cloudy Dream by six lengths, with Ordinary World completing the places in what was a thrilling renewal.