"I'm thrilled to bits with that," said Hutchinson. "It's been at the back of our minds since the start of the year that a step up in trip might suit him well, and it's been the making of him. Kempton was a weak assignment but it gave him confidence and now he's fulfilling the hopes we always had of him."
King added: "I'm both relieved and thrilled. That was just what I wanted to see and probably a little better than I expected. The owners are away, but I'm sure it will be the Ryanair next.
"He's in his comfort zone again. Over two and a half miles they just go half a stride slower early on, those good two milers were just getting him at it and taking him out of his comfort zone."
Balder Succes has run at Cheltenham three times but is yet to complete the course and King said: "I'm fairly comfortable with taking him back to Cheltenham. In the Triumph there was a false start and he completely boiled over and fell at halfway.
"Then on his second start over fences it was one of those low sun days when they didn't take the fences out, but he was bolting up when he came down."