It is two down and one to go for Cue Card in his pursuit of the £1million bonus on offer for the chasing triple crown after he laid his Kempton Park hoodoo to rest with a dramatic last-gasp victory in the William Hill King George VI Chase.
The most intriguing renewal of the Boxing Day showpiece for many a year was given the finish it deserved - but one which also came at a heavy cost for winning rider Paddy Brennan.
After hailing the triumph as the greatest moment of his career, Brennan was served with an 11-day ban and £4,200 fine for excessive use of the whip in landing the three-mile prize aboard the Colin Tizzard-trained gelding.
Silviniaco Conti, in his bid to win the race for a third successive season, set out to make all, just as he did 12 months ago, and the nine-year-old looked as though he may play a part before quickly going backwards once passed by Vautour at the 11th fence.
One by one each of those in behind Vautour started to feel the pressure, while all the time Ruby Walsh looked to still have plenty underneath him rounding the home turn.
After clearing the third-last Willie Mullins' runner saw his chief market rival Don Cossack part company with Bryan Cooper at the penultimate fence, leaving just Cue Card as the only realistic challenger.
Still with several lengths to find from two out, Cue Card began to gather a good head of steam as Vautour, for the first time in the race, looked in trouble with his stride shortening.
With a good jump over the last for either horse virtually assuring victory, neither got it as both got in tight leaving them to knuckle down to a pulsating battle up the short run-in.
As Vautour still held a narrow advantage it looked as though a magical 35 minutes for owner Rich Ricci and Closutton handler Mullins would be completed having saddled Faugheen to victory in the Christmas Hurdle and Douvan in the Racing Post Novice Chase at Leopardstown.
But it was not to be, with Cue Card producing one final effort to get up on the line and score by a head to continue his rejuvenation since undergoing a breathing operation. Al Ferof, now with Dan Skelton, was third for the third year in succession.
Tizzard's pride and joy was adding to his facile win in the Betfair Chase last time out, to leave him with just victory in the Cheltenham Gold Cup to pick up the seven-figure windfall put forward by Jockey Club Racecourses.
Tizzard said: "Nowadays he's a completely different horse, he might not look as if he's going very well but he has that left for the end. It's fantastic.
"He's been a great horse for five or six seasons now. Going to the last if he'd met it on a good stride he would have won by a length and a half.
"When he won the Champion Bumper as a four-year-old everyone thought we had trained him too hard, but he showed that they do come back.
"We'll see how he is, but he looks like a Gold Cup horse now, whether he races again (before Cheltenham) I don't know, he's had a hard race and was all out.
"It's lovely he relaxes so well in a race, it's brilliant. The good horses are doing very well at the minute and dreams are made of this."
Brennan said: "It's the best feeling of my whole career. I can't take it in. I've beaten one of the best horses in training and beaten one of the best jockeys I've ever ridden against. My wife and son watching at home will be so proud.
"It was a tight one, the last time I got in (a photo) with Ruby it was Imperial Commander against Kauto Star, I thought I'd got there then but I hadn't. But today he said to me I'd won.
"I'm not going to lie and say there was loads there, I got to the bottom of the tank but if any man is going to get him back in that sort of form for the Gold Cup it's Colin Tizzard.
"For people that say he doesn't stay, he stayed right to the line to get there.
"The best day of my life, unbelievable."
Mullins was magnanimous in defeat and admitted it was "probably" a lack of stamina which cost Vautour, who was shortened into 6-4 for the Ryanair Chase by Coral and William Hill.
He said: "He did everything right, bar the last 20 yards. He didn't jump the last as efficiently as he could have, but it was a very brave run, as it was from the winner.
"I don't know if his stamina gave out, but it probably looks like that.
"We won't make a decision about the Gold Cup for a while, we'll see what we have to run in it when it comes - I won't be taking him out of it, anyhow."