One-time Galway Hurdle top weight Sole Pretender returned from a 598-days absence to win the baroneracing.com Hurdle at Cork today, scoring for trainer Norman Lee and jockey Simon Torrens.

The seven year old son of Gold Well had won three consecutive hurdles in 2019 prior to his fifth-place finish under top weight in the same year's Galway Hurdle and today reappeared following a near two-year absence.

The race featured last month's County Hurdle runner-up Petit Mouchoir but that Grade 1 winner was held when falling at the second last as Sole Pretender made all for a five lengths win over Bapaume

Afterwards Co Galway based Lee was relieved and delighted in equal measure and later quipped “I had an owner telling me lately my gallop was a bit too small but it's plenty big now!”

He added “the lads at home do a great job and I never had a good horse until we got him. He is a proper good horse and we can keep dreaming.”

“He had a little issue last year and we gave him the full year off . We did a lot of minding him to keep him in one piece but he was very good after it and hopefully he'll be ok tomorrow.

“That was great and he is a credit to his owner Michael Hogan who never rushed me with the horse.

“He is a very good horse and we had him away to the Curragh a few times but had no schooling race and I thought he'd need the run to be honest.

“We'll make plans tonight or tomorrow but you can go anywhere once you've beaten a horse (beaten favourite and faller Petit Mouchoir) who was second in Cheltenham. He'll improve a little bit from today and we won't get carried away — talking never made a horse win.”