Hereditary Rule opened his account in good style when taking the Tote Always SP Or Better Beginners Chase under a confident ride from Ricky Doyle at Clonmel.

The son of Imperial Monarch was placed in a maiden hurdle for Gordon Elliott back in 2019 but generally disappointed since and this represented a drop in class after taking on El Barra on his chasing debut at Limerick last month. Bonarc set the pace in this two-mile event and put in a fine round of jumping but Doyle’s mount made eye-catching headway from off the pace entering the straight.

The Irish Grand National-winning rider waited until the final fence before sending his mount to the front, and the John McConnell-trained 15/2 chance cruised home to score by a length and a half. Gallyhill took the runner-up berth, with Bonarc fading back to finish a further half-a-length away in third.

Doyle said, "He jumps very well but we thought he'd be a bit slow for two miles so instead of having him on his head, we took our time. He was comfortable and was able to use his jumping and to be fair he showed a good turn of foot coming off the hill.

"He did it well enough and will be a bit of fun for the lads."

(TW & AM)