< Treacle provided Tom Taaffe and Paul Townend with sweet memories of Limerick when winning the ladbrokes.com Munster National Chase.

The eight-year-old chestnut was the headline act in the prestigious three-mile handicap & ndash; thanks largely to a star-studded round of fencing.

Taaffe's 7-1 chance ate up acres of ground once the field straightened for home, joining Dashing George and Paddy Pub at the business end.

Although eventual runner-up Dashing George touched down after the last with a narrow advantage, the momentum was with the lightly-raced Treacle, a recent scorer at Listowel.

Townend's partner then maintained a feisty gallop towards the line to score by a neck.

Paddy Pub was third, while Operation Houdini ran a fine race to take third.< Green Mile the 11-2 favourite, was disappointing.

Taaffe was understandably thrilled, and revealed that Treacle is now under consideration for the Hennessy Cognac Gold Cup at Newbury in November.

He said: "I'd suppose we'll be thinking of November and December & ndash; the Troytown and the Paddy Power & ndash; and then he'll have a break and we'll have him for the spring.

"Obviously there is a little race in England there in November as well (the Hennessy) and that is a consideration as well.

"That is only about his sixth race over fences and he is on the way up."

Townend was completing a memorable treble, having this season won the Ulster National on Ballytrim and the Leinster National aboard Emma Jane.

Earlier on the card, Jumbo Rio was made to work quite hard to land the odds in the Oakbruce Properties Hurdle.

The 4-7 favourite found Spanish Auriga a worthy foe and needed to be kept up to his work by McNamara to produce the goods by one and a half lengths.

Trainer Edward O'Grady said: "Hopefully he'll run in Auteuil on November 15.

"He has done well and is a lovely horse. It is nice to be able to run against four-year-olds for the moment."

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