McAuley still having the last laugh with Tai Sing Yeh

Tai Sing Yeh and Collective Power were drawn one and three respectively in the extended five furlong handicap at Naas, but fought the finish out on the stands' side with the former just prevailing.

Joey Sheridan led the far side pair on Tai Sing Yeh and switched his mount over to the main group before halfway together with Collective Power. Livingston Range led that main group and was headed by Tai Sing Yeh with less than a quarter of a mile to travel. Sorcha Woods then rode Collective Power into a narrow lead approaching the final furlong and the pair had the race between them in the final 100 yards.

Tai Sing Yeh lunged in the final strides to claim victory by a head at 14/1 from the 20/1 runner-up who ran some race on ground that looked to have gone for him.

Third-placed Wave Machine (11/1) tried to go after the aforementioned pair in the final furlong, but dropped two and three-quarter lengths away in the closing stages.

This was nine-year-old Tai Sing Yeh's 11th career success - three in Britain and eight in Ireland.

James McAuley said: "It was brilliant!

"The horses have been flying and then we went to Ballinrobe, they don't like them long trips! Every one of them ran shocking, it was like someone hit the handbrake on us.

“You can set your clock by him. When I saw Joey making the manoeuvre he made I said 'where is he going, from one rail to the other', but he gave him a brilliant ride.

“Dating back to when he was a 10lb claimer we've always had a good association with Joey. You know what you get with him, he's no nonsense and he was brilliant.

“People laughed at us when we took this horse out of a claimer last year, with the age of him, but I'd gladly swap every horse in the yard for a few more of him.

“Every time he goes if he doesn't win he pays for him and some of the other runners. He's brilliant.”

Additional reporting by Gary Carson