THE status of Newcastle’s Fighting Fifth Hurdle might be under threat, but the North-East’s flagship jumps race has still thrown up another Champion Hurdle contender after Irving finally lived up to his lofty reputation to provide Paul Nicholls with a 100th Grade One success.

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With its place on the calendar having been squeezed by the introduction of a new £100,000 hurdle race at Haydock seven days earlier, the Fighting Fifth was unable to attract the likes of Faugheen, The New One and Jezki, who all swerved Gosforth Park for alternative seasonal introductions.

Saturday’s field of six was the weakest line-up to contest the Fighting Fifth for many seasons, but Irving’s victory at least ensures the race retains its reputation for readying Champion Hurdle entries.

Having flopped when a well-backed joint favourite in last season’s Supreme Novices’ Hurdle, Irving blotted his copybook again when he fell at the final fence in Wincanton’s Elite Hurdle last month.

Saturday’s outing was a crucial retrieval mission, and in the hands of Nick Scholfield, Irving produced a flawless display of jumping as he tracked Aurore D’Estruval into the home straight before readily pulling more than one-and-a-half lengths clear.

“You can’t criticise his jumping now,” said Scholfield. “He never missed a hurdle and I thought he did really well. Paul has done some job to get him back so quickly after that fall at Wincanton.

“The way he’s progressing at the moment, I would think he could be a Champion Hurdle contender. The way he’s jumped here, he could certainly run in a Champion Hurdle.”

Nicholls watched the race on a television screen at Newbury, where his Rocky Creek failed to figure in a Hennessy Gold Cup that was won by Many Clouds, and was able to celebrate yet another notable landmark in his remarkable training career.

See More Indians provided him with his first Grade One success when he won the Feltham Chase at Kempton in 1993, and Irving is merely the latest talented youngster to have emerged from his West Country base.

“It was a great ride from Nick and it reflects so well on the team,” said Nicholls. “I have been lucky enough to train 100 Grade One winners, but if you have not got the team, you can’t do it. It reflects well on Team Ditcheat.”

While Irving will head to Cheltenham to contest the Champion Hurdle, the runner-up, Aurore D’Estruval, will travel to the Festival with a live chance in the Mares’ Hurdle.

John Quinn’s four-year-old travelled superbly throughout, and while she ultimately lacked Irving’s sprinting speed in the final furlong, she already looks likely to be the leading domestic rival to Annie Power if Willie Mullins decides to run his leading female in the mares’ race.

“I was really pleased with the run,” said Quinn, whose Cockney Sparrow was also runner-up in last year’s Fighting Fifth. “She’s jumped well and handled the ground fine. She did everything we wanted from her.

“It’s the second year in a row where we’ve finished second, so I guess we’ll just have to come back next year and go one better.

“The Mares’ Hurdle is the obvious target for her. She’ll run again around Christmas, and then we’ll probably look to give her one more run in January before putting her away for Cheltenham.”

The French Furze Novices’ Hurdle occasionally throws up a Cheltenham contender – last year’s winner, Ballyalton, went on to finish second in the Neptune Novices’ Hurdle – but it would be a surprise if Native River followed up Saturday’s success with another win at the Festival.

Colin Tizzard’s 10-1 shot got the run of a messy affair that saw odds-on shot Definitly Red turned over as he made his hurdling debut and the fancied Chidswell throw away his chance with a scruffy jump at the second last.