Triumph or disaster have rarely come in half-measures during Andrew Thornton's young career. And the jockey's transformation from "awful" to "on top of the world" at Kempton yesterday, via a four-timer which included the Pertemps Christmas Hurdle on French Holly, again owed little to dramatic understatement.

Thornton, who last February partnered four winners on Racing Post Chase day - including the feature - and then won the Cheltenham Gold Cup before breaking his left leg in a horror fall at Fontwell in May, travelled to the course with six booked rides and a bad dose of 'flu'.

Staggering back to the weighing-room after winning the opener the jockey, whose face bore all the colour of the ghost of Christmas past, then signed himself off his next two rides before returning to share French Holly's emphatic victory in the Grade One Christmas Hurdle.

Such was the style of the win, a corpse bound to the gelding's back might have been taking the plaudits returning to the winner's enclosure as French Holly demolished his opponents.

Passing even-money favourite Dato Star at the fourth of the eight flights, the equine tower, sent off at 5 to 2, blasted clear from the third last to jump the final two in solitary and beat Master Beveled by nine lengths, with a further eight to Dato Star.

Despite the presence of the favourite, who had beaten French Holly by five lengths in Newcastle's Fighting Fifth Hurdle last month, the winner's trainer Ferdy Murphy was confident of revenge. "I had my biggest bet here today," he smiled. The other horse has only ever run once right-handed and got absolutely murdered when he did. I am not a great one for statistics but it was a two-horse race and I thought 11 to 4 was unbelievable."

Leyburn trainer Murphy will send his seven-year-old to Leopardstown for the AIG Europe Champion Hurdle before tackling the Cheltenham equivalent in March.