Dodging Bullets clinched glory in the Betway Queen Mother Champion Chase at Cheltenham for trainer Paul Nicholls.

Winner of the Tingle Creek at Sandown and the Clarence House Chase at Ascot already this season, the seven-year-old was third in the betting at 9-2 for the two-mile championship behind former winners Sprinter Sacre and Sire De Grugy.

Dodging Bullets travelled with zest throughout in the hands of Sam Twiston-Davies and loomed ominously running down the hill.

Defending champion Sire De Grugy was under the pump a long way from home, while Sprinter Sacre, so brilliant in this race two years ago, did not jump well and appeared a shadow of his former self and was pulled up.

Twiston-Davies said: “What a horse. Harry Derham and the team have done a great job.

“Harry rides him all the time and wouldn't let Frankie Dettori ride him at home when he came down the other day, which says a lot.”

Nicholls said: “That was absolutely awesome. It’s good for the owners and good for the team.

"The progress he's made has been absolutely phenomonal. He's got better and better.”

Nicky Henderson said Sprinter Sacre will be given a thorough check-up before he can consider any notion of retirement.

Henderson said: “His heart is OK, which is the main thing.

“He’ll be scoped and then we’ll know a lot more after that.

“(Jockey) Barry (Geraghty) said he was a bit noisy going up the back and it sounds like it's something internal.

“We’ll scope him now. There was a trace of blood after Ascot, so you would have to be suspicious in that department.

“Once we’ve done the tests we’ll let everyone know.

“I don’t think we can make any predictions today as to the future.

“If there's a switch we can find that gets rids of what is affecting him today, who knows.”