Payroll shows he could be a good money-spinner for Fry

Favourite backers were in clover as Art Of Payroll won Southwell's biggest jumps race of the year, the Vivienne Squires Trophy Handicap Chase, on his first start for Harry Fry.

Purely on those terms, it was a quick conversion, but in the broader sense this was a case of delayed gratification. He took 12 attempts to win a chase for former trainer Sandra Hughes and this debut for Fry was a long time coming, as the trainer explained.

"We had him in the Summer Plate, but he got colic literally 48 hours beforehand so he had to come out, then he got balloted out of the Galway Plate, so we came here," he said.