Frodon stamps class on Musselburgh contest

Frodon had little difficulty landing the odds in the totepool Scottish Future Champions Novices' Chase at Musselburgh.After being edgy at the start, the Paul Nicholls-trained five-year-old settled in front beautifully for Sam Twiston-Davies.Frodon's rivals barely had a chance as the 4-9 shot put in a solid clear round as he scored by nine lengths to register his fifth win of the campaign, highlighted by the Caspian Caviar Gold Cup at Cheltenham in December.Twiston-Davies said of Frodon's antics at the start: "He gets like that sometimes. It's been a while since his last run so he was good and fresh."He is a horse that loves his racing, as you saw by the way he was at the start."It was as good a ground he's run on for a long time. He could have done with a bit more cut, but he put up a good performance today and jumped brilliant."Nicholls' assistant Harry Derham said: "He'd won some good races but tired last time when he fell. He was really good today."Today was a stepping stone to bigger things. We knew he was going to improve for today, so we're really pleased."He's a horse I love. He's so professional. He's only five, but when you think what he's achieved already, he's a fantastic little horse."Tree Of Liberty caused a minor upset when making all the running to open his account in the totepool Novices' Hurdle.Placed in his three previous races under Rules, the Charlie Longsdon-trained five-year-old lowered the colours of the odds-on Burbank.Brian Hughes dictated affairs on Tree Of Liberty (5-1) from the outset as he took his tally for the season to 104.After setting a sedate pace, he upped the tempo from three out and was able to see off the 30-100 shot by a length and a quarter. Winningtry was 22 lengths back in third after briefly threatening in the straight."He likes proper good ground, but I thought two-mile-three might be a little short for him, hence I said to Brian dictate and wind it up and there's no-one better to do that on this track than him," Longsdon told Racing UK."I didn't see Burbank as a 3-1 on shot. In theory on the weights, he was probably 4lb better than us."I thought we had a good little chance if we dictated from the front."