Trainer Noel Kelly and rider Conor Orr registered their first successes of the season when James Boru took the first split of the Toals Phone Betting Available 7 Days A Week Handicap Hurdle at Downpatrick.

A second Ulster winner on the card after Walkers Point rsquo;s 50/1 shock earlier, James Boru is handled in County Derry by Kelly, for owner Victor McCrea.

Off a 120 day break the victorious Brian Boru gelding travelled well, and once asked for his final effort he extended away close home to beat Mary Of De Sorrows by four lengths.

"We put him out in front and as soon as a horse got to his girth he stopped. We decided today we would drop him out and take everything (headgear) off him, and just put a white noseband on him and see if he could enjoy it a wee bit more,” said Kelly.

"It worked very well on him. They went a good gallop after half a mile and it probably suited him.

"There might be another day in him - you need a good strong pace if ridden like that. You could ride him like that again and they could go too slow and sprint home.

"He could come back here as the boy that owns him isn't too far away in Stewartstown. It's just a pity he wasn't here today!"

James Boru was easy-to-back at 13/2 in the moments before the race, but he was supported at double figures earlier on.

(MG & EM)