Force Of Habit s opening race win of the the hotelmeyrick.ie & the ghotel.ie Novice Hurdle has set trainer Dermot Weld up with an excellent chance of both retaining last year's and winning his 26th Leading Trainer Award.

The son of Dalakhani was patiently ridden by Paul Townend who eventually made his way through the field to lead on the run-in, scoring a three parts of a length win over Hail Caesar

Afterwards Weld stated "Force Of Habit is a tough horse but I was a little concerned about there being too much of a 'give' in the ground for him - the ground must not be too bad."

He added "Paul gave him a very good ride and the horse will run again later in the week in either the mile and a half handicap on Thursday or the two miles handicap on Sunday."