Or Jaune De Somoza justified strong support to open his account in the thurles.ie Maiden Hurdle.

The Henry de Bromhead-trained gelding, third last time at the Limerick Christmas meeting, was available at 9/4 in early exchanges and supported on track from 7/4 into 5/4 favourite.

Davy Russell had the French-bred gelding up with the pace throughout and took control after the penultimate flight.

The six-year-old kept on well on the run-in to beat Bang Bang Rosie by two and three quarter lengths, with Denwork another three and three quarter lengths back in third.

De Bromhead said, "He's improving all the time and Davy was happy with him. He was good, is a brilliant jumper and when he meets a fence, he'll be better again.

"Whether he'd go jumping fences next or not I'm not sure but I'd imagine he will next season. I'm not sure if he'll go through the summer but we'll see nearer the time."

(TW & AM)