Partnered by Andrew Lynch, the nine-year-old headed fellow joint-favourite You Sir on the approach to the second last and was good value at the finish for his halflength victory in the colours of Sean Mulryan. His price for the Gold Cup remains unchanged at 25-1.

Forget The Past has been troubled by back problems but O'Brien said "Everything seems fine now. He's only had one piece of work in the last three weeks and Andrew said he blew up twice there. The Hennessy Gold Cup at Leopardstown is now a possibility, although I'll have to talk to Sean about whether we run In Compliance as well."

Jockey Eddie Power had his claim reduced to 5lb following Convincing's short head win over Majestic Concorde ns the Panda Juvenile Hurdle. The odds-on favourite Jayo was the big disappointment here, being pulled up with two flights remaining.

Convincing is trained by John Murphy, who reflected "I was shocked he ran so badly in Leopardstown because I think an awful lot of him. He had a temperature that night and was a little bit sick afterwards."

Looking further ahead, Murphy added "He's been on the go a long time and maybe we'll give him a break. He might not be a Cheltenham horse this year because he's more a scopey chasing type."

Claiming rider Shane Jackson combined with restricted trainer Seamus Roche to spring a 25-1 surprise with Jakeups Fold in the Association Of Irish Racehorse Owners Handicap Chase and a Stewards enquiry failed to alter the result.

The Stewards enquired into the fact that Jakeups Fold appeared to run around a piece of rail at the turn out of the back straight. Clerk of the course Joe Collins stated this was not part of the course and the runners could go either side of it.