Imbroglio caught the eye at Moulins on Monday with the son of Great Pretender making an impressive winning debut by 30 lengths.

All eight runners jumped the first hurdle in a good manner and with a relaxed early pace set by Indivin and Itiepy, the field were bunched together. The eventual winner, Imbroglio, was settled at the back of the group with one horse behind approaching the second obstacle, seven lengths off the leaders. 

Favourite in the contest, Ioup La La progressed down the back straight for the first time on the outside of the course and shared the lead taking the first right-handed turn with the tempo increasing. 

Baptiste Le Clerc had settled Imbroglio into a nice rhythm and the newcomer was jumping well, making progress through the field. As a result, he was fifth with a lap to go. The Lageneste & Macaire trained gelding was able to cope with the sudden increase of pace caused by Ioup La La down the far side, passing the halfway stage. 

The winning jockey asked his mount to accelerate towards the final hurdle down the back and he responded quickly as he took up the running with a five-length lead on the final turn. He clearly knew what was expected going through the gears impressively. By the home straight he was ten lengths ahead. The dangers were the hurdles in front rather than rivals behind, but he continued to jump professionally and was an easy winner to score by 30 lengths ahead of the favourite, Ioup La La, and Itiepy for the placings. It will be interesting to see where Imbroglio heads throughout the autumn season as this was a highly impressive debut success.