Double Seven caught many an eye at Listowel and he vindicated the promise of that debut effort by justifying favouritism in the opening countysligoraces.com Maiden Hurdle.

Mark Walsh got first run on the other big one in the market, Asiya (3s into 5/2), and the victorious son of Milan ended up hanging on by a neck. Whisky Galore was just a short head further back in third.

Winning trainer Martin Brassil reported of J P McManus’ victor: "He is a nice type of four-year-old and learned from his run in Listowel. His jumping was a bit sketchy early on the last day but he was better today. He has had two quick runs so we'll probably freshen him up for a month and then look for something."