Last season’s busy triple Grade 1-winning novice hurdler Dancing City (2/5f) made a successful fences debut today, landing Punchestown’s Irish Stallion Farms EBF Beginners Chase for trainer Willie Mullins and jockey Paul Townend.

A third-placing in Cheltenham’s Albert Bartlett Hurdle in March interrupted the seven year old’s near-perfect spring campaign — which featured top-level wins at the Dublin, Aintree and Punchestown festivals, and today jumped well on his seasonal reappearance.

Dancing City comfortably had the measure of his rivals from the second-last although faster-finishing runner-up Shannon Royale closed the gap on the run-in, to 1.5 lengths at the line.

Townend reported “that was nice, he jumped brilliantly in the main and then took in the scenery down the straight!

“I gave him a slap going to the last to make him concentrate, he jumped it well and then we heard another one coming but he pulled out plenty again. It's as good a start as you could hope for.

“He's very good, he has been good since he started and we were hoping for that.”

Paddy Power later cut Dancing City to 6/1, from 10s, for the Brown Advisory Novice Chase at Cheltenham in March.

Quotes from Gary Carson

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