The Willie Mullins trained Pique Sous under Paul Townend, paid for his upcoming Cheltenham Festival trip with an easy win in the [email protected] Maiden at Dundalk this evening.

The French bred grey son of Martaline had been kept away from heavy turf ground in recent months but, produced fresh and well from his 99 day absence, readily defeated Raise The Beat under a confident ride from Townend.

Afterwards Mullins said “I'm delighted with the way he handled the surface – he hadn't been on it before but I didn't want to run him on heavy ground.

“Whether he comes back here again or goes straight over to Cheltenham I don't know yet but we'll see how he comes out of this. That win has booked his ticket for the Supreme Novices Hurdle but I don't think he'll run over jumps before then – he's a spring horse. When I saw this race come up I thought it would be a good opportunity for him.”

Stan James bookmakers cut Pique Sous to 20/1 (from 25s) for the Supreme Novices Hurdle.

Quotes from Michael Graham