Getting in too close to the last when in command threatened to ruin things for connections and those that backed Jumbo Rio into 11/8 favourite (from 7/4 in the morning), but in fairness to Andrew McNamara's mount he knuckled down well to hold off the rallying Cuan Na Grai by a head in the featured Grade 3 Kevin McManus Bookmaker Grimes Hurdle.

The top juvenile was taking on older horses for the first time and after a couple of expeditions to France when runner-up behind Rendons Grace, Jumbo Rio was racing on home soil for the first time since his Grade 1 Ballymore Champion four-year-old Hurdle win at Punchestown.

Winning trainer, Edward O'Grady said: "He is a very tough horse. He'll probably go for a flat race next before going back to Auteuil in November. It took him forty hours to get to France last time and he still put in a good performance which just shows how tough he is."