Sir Gino provides Nicky Henderson with a sigh of relief after Aintree victory

Nicky Henderson’s gelding missed the Cheltenham Festival as the stable was under a cloud and looked to claim his first Grade One in Liverpool instead.

Under Nico de Boinville, he did so with little fuss, winning comfortably as the 11/10 favourite after a good jump at the last.

Henderson said: “We knew what we were walking into and while it is a relief, one swallow doesn’t make a summer as they say.

“He galloped right through the line in what was a messy race, it was awfully stop-start. His jumping was untidy up the straight but you could see from the speed on the screen, it got slowed up dramatically, the second was pulling hard as well but he’s done what he had to do.

“He is a very good horse but he’s got a long way to go. He is in Punchestown but that was in case of protestors or bomb scares or something stupid, but I wouldn’t have thought that was high on the agenda.

“I always had the feeling he was going to pick up the second but you could get a tidier race than that.

“He’ll have to stick to hurdles next season but I’m not going to think about that now. I know where one person (Constitution Hill) is going so we’ll have to see if there’s an alternative route.”