Mille Chief entered 2011 Champion Hurdle calculations over the weekend as Alan King’s highly regarded hurdler outshone his rivals in the 32Red Handicap Hurdle at Sandown.

The winner has always been held in high regard by his trainer and the youngster went some way to justifying the hype that surrounds him with an authoritative display of jumping under top weight on testing ground.

Jockey Robert Thornton barely had to ask a question of the talented hurdler and a delighted Alan King explained:  "He's a horse we've always adored.

"He needed the run at Aintree, I bumped into Nicky's horse at Ascot and went up for nine and we lost the Ladbroke and this was the last chance to run him before the Tote Gold Trophy."

Speaking about the chances of Mille Chief heading to Cheltenham for the Champion Hurdle, King explained:"I don't know but he's going to have an entry. In my opinion he's a lot better horse than Katchit and he did win a Champion Hurdle but Katchit did it on the track. This lad is beginning to do it on the track but we'll got to see. At home he'd be a superior horse though."