De Bromhead relieved after Fantastic victory

Absolutlyfantastic opened his account over fences with a fine front-running performance in the beginners chase at Ballinrobe.

Henry de Bromhead's charge proved a warm order (2/1 in morning into 9/10f) after a good third on his chasing debut at Killarney and punters had few worries. The Bull Hayes tried hard to throw down a challenge but was playing second fiddle from the penultimate obstacle.

Davy Russell 's mount got a bit low at the last but still had plenty in the tank and could afford to ease down in the closing stages for a length-and-a-quarter success.

"I'm relieved as we were having a lot of seconds recently. It's nice to get off the mark" said de Bromhead.

"He looked good there over the last and Davy eased him up a bit.

"There is a race in Roscommon, which Davy said His Excellency will probably go for, and the two mile novice in Galway. Those are the races we are looking at.

"The better the ground the better he is."

Gary Carson & Alan Magee