Celestial Gold won an incident-packed Betfair Bowl on day one of Aintree's Grand National meeting as champion trainer Martin Pipe returned to form.
Timmy Murphy kept his mount going after a mistake two from home and capitalised on a last-fence error by Take The Stand to seal victory by seven lengths.
L'Ami was a further two and a half lengths away in third.
Beef Or Salmon unshipped jockey Paul Carberry three fences in, while My Will fell at the first.
Pipe had drawn a rare blank at last month's Cheltenham Festival, where Celestial Gold unseated Murphy in the Gold Cup.
Aintree: Day One
Pipe was not present but his son and assistant David said: "We thought he was a Gold Cup horse for this year and we'll definitely aim him for the race again next year."
Beef Or Salmon, winner of eight Grade One races in his native Ireland, has now failed to succeed in six races in England, including four attempts at the Gold Cup.
Trainer Michael Hourigan said: "I'm disappointed, but that's horse racing.
"I'll have a chat with the owners to see if he comes over again - they might get disheartened but I won't."
Katarino became the first horse since Spartan Missile in 1979 to land consecutive victories in the Fox Hunters' Chase over the National fences.
Sam Waley-Cohen, riding the horse owned and trained by his father Robert, said: "It was just unbelievably awesome."