Leibniz relished the good to firm ground on offer in Down Royal as he scooted home by two and a half lengths at 12/1 in the two and a half mile handicap hurdle.

Shark Hanlon 's charge travelled nicely into contention to dispute the lead at the eighth hurdle and despite a slight mistake at the third last he went clear from the second last and stayed on well. Quarton at 8/1 came home second and it was a further two and a half lengths back to Lucky Pigeon also at 8/1. There was 16/1 available on her in the morning.

Winning jockey Brian Hayes said: “That’s 40 winners for me now so my claim is down to 3lbs. He didn’t handle the ground the last day, but came home well. He bolted up here and liked that nicer ground. Shark was confident, more so than I was.”