Trainer Conor O’Dwyer’s El Vasco justified 3/1 joint-favouritism when landing the Coral.ie (C & G) Maiden Hurdle at Gowan today, scoring under seven pounds claimer Ricky Doyle.

Doyle’s mount eventually got the better of a tight battle with runner-up Fellow Indian on the run-in, to provide O’Dwyer with a second winner in as many months.

Afterwards O’Dwyer stated “he ran some smashing races in better maidens but was just not getting there. He's a big frame of a horse and has taken time.

"He likes that ground, and you won’t see the best of him until he jumps a fence. He could go chasing in a few months time."

By Tom Weekes, quotes from Alan Magee