CUCUMBER Run went some way to upholding family honour by claiming the totepool Irish Day – Saturday 4th February Novices’ Chase at Wetherby.

Nicky Henderson’s sevenyear- old is a half-brother to Saturday’s Victor Chandler Chase winner Somersby and while he looks unlikely to reach the same heights as his sibling, connections learnt plenty from that notable weekend triumph.

The application of cheekpieces helped Somersby grab Grade One glory for the first time and having jumped with little fluency on his first couple of starts, Henderson decided to use the same headgear to aid Cucumber Run.

The 6-4 favourite was ridden positively by David Bass and the jockey was aggressive at many of the obstacles.

Main market rival Mac Aeda tracked Cucumber Run into the straight and, for a moment, looked to be travelling the better of the pair.

But his effort proved to be short lived and Cucumber Run kept up the pace to collect by 13 lengths.

Part-owner David Minton said: ‘‘He’s a half-brother to Somersby and as he won at Ascot on Saturday in cheekpieces, we decided to use them today, and it helped.

‘‘He needs to go left-handed and is not the boldest of jumpers, but David kicked him into each fence to make his mind up. I’m not sure what we’ll do next. We’ll try and find another little race somewhere if we can.’’ Steve Gollings believes Into Wain is destined for greater things after he claimed the ‘Enjoy The Craic’ On Saturday 4th February Novices’ Hurdle.