Sunday's Grand National Hurdle at Sandown was billed as a match race between topweights Saunter Boy and Kiwi raider The Cossack, but the race proved to be anything but.
The 71kg impost didn't prove a problem for the former in the 4200m jumping feature, scoring a three-quarter of a length victory over St Arnicca, while New Zealand's top jumper finished a further 20 lengths away in fifth place.
Trainer Paul Nelson was perplexed with The Cossack's performance and couldn't identify what went wrong for the gelding who had won his previous three races in his homeland.
"We were very disappointed. We thought he would have been competitive, but it wasn't his day," said Nelson, who also part-owns the 9-year-old.
Nelson didn't believe the firmer track (Soft6) than regular New Zealand winter footing was a factor for his gelding and having carried 73kg in two of his last three starts, weight was also an unlikely issue.
"I don't think so [the track being too good for him]. He hadn't run for a month but I thought we had done enough with him to have him right for the run," Nelson said.