Thunderbear put up an impressive performance in defying topweight to readily win the Navan Racecourse Handicap at the County Meath track.

A dual winner last season, including in Group 3 company at Newbury, the Jack Davison trained four-year-old defied 10-4 to win easily under Colin Keane.

Held up early on as Arnhem cut out the running from Never Shout Never and Pro Bono Alexander Keane arrived upsides with a double handful at the furlong pole.

Once pressing the button, he found a willing partner who quickened in impressive fashion to win by one-and-a-quarter lengths.

“He's a legend, he's been great for us and won a Group 3 in England last year for us,” said Davison.

“He's actually developing into a nice sprinter as he gets older. He had been a bit disappointing this season so it was nice to get him back into calmer waters and get the win. Hopefully we can build from here.”

The winner was back in a visor today having also worn blinkers and cheekpieces and Davison added:-

“He kind of marches to the beat of his own drum and any little bit of change seems to just invigorate him that little bit. Maybe there's not much in it but it seemed to work out today.

“I was quite relaxed watching the race throughout. He has a bit of class in that company and I think he showed that today, and Colin gave him a lovely ride.

“It was all about getting a win this season and we'll use that as a springboard. I doubt if we'd look at a handicap in Ascot as he'd have a lot of weight. We'll pick his shots for the rest of the season.”

Additional reporting by Gary Carson.