Eclair De Beaufeu showed his resolve to rally for victory in the latter stages of Limerick's maiden hurdle.

Keith Donoghue 's mount tracked Drifting Back into the straight and made smooth headway to lead on the approach to the penultimate flight.

However, he was challenged after that obstacle by Envious Editor who took a narrow lead jumping the last.

Envious Editor was half a length in front on the run-in but in the final stages Eclair De Beaufeu stayed on stoutly to get up and win by a length at 5/2.

The runner-up, Envious Editor, was all the rage with punters who forced his price down from 2/1 to 11/10 favourite.

All The Acorn was a length and a quarter further back in third at 6/1.

Ian ‘Busty’ Amond, assistant to Gordon Elliott, said: “He had plenty of experience and he got the job done. Keith said he battled well.

"He made a slight mistake at the second-last and was headed but he battled well after the last. Hopefully he can kick on from here.”

Additional reporting by Alan Magee