Casey Jones has always been held in high regard by Noel Meade and it was becoming frustrating that he had until now failed to get his head in front over fences.

That situation was remedied when Casey Jones put in a fine round of jumping to beat the former French trained Golden Silver and favourite Aranleigh

'We tried him in a tongue tie for the first time today and that may have made the difference. He is by Oscar and a lot of them are wrong in their wind. Slippers (Madden) rode him work during the week and felt he was struggling a little to take a breath. There is also the possibility that he was better suited to this bigger track,' said Noel Meade.

The race itself was littered with fallers as eight of the eighteen runners failed to complete the course.