Ted Veale justified his position as the even money in the Grade 3 At The Races European Breeders Fund Kilbegnet Novice Chase at Roscommon, but his connections and backers had to sweat.

Andrew Lynch dictated a steady gallop in front on The Black Russian (7s into 11/2 on track) and it looked like himself and Un Beau Roman (5/2) would be the principals away from the second last.

Barry Geraghty was getting Ted Veale into top gear from before the last though and when The Black Russian got under it and slightly impeded Un Beau Roman, the door was left open.

The John Breslin-owned and Tony Martin-trained Ted Veale finished off strong and at the line he was nicely on top by a length and a quarter and a length and a half from Un Beau Roman and The Black Russian.

Martin commented: "Maybe he wasn't great at one down the back but the man who rode him knows him, he knew what he was at, he got the best out of him and we got the right result in the end.

"It was a great pot to win and he has done us all proud. He is not the biggest in the world and he is probably not scopey enough to be top class over fences but he has plenty of heart and that counts for a lot.

"He has his own way of doing things. He is not a soft ground horse. We thought last winter we might get decent ground at a few places but he never really got it and it just didn't work out the way we planned.

"He has a lot of options and we will tip away and see if we can find something like that. He mightn't have enough class for Cheltenham." (DM & EM)