Riaan routs his rivals on debut over fences

Riaan made the perfect start to life over fences as he ran out a comfortable winner of the O'Driscoll's Irish Whiskey Beginners Chase.

Twice successful over flights, the Gordon Elliott-trained six-year-old was pulled up in the Coral Cup at Cheltenham when last seen.

Sent off an easy-to-back 6/1 chance (from 2s early), the Philip Reynolds-owned bay made every yard of the running under Jack Kennedy.

He had all his rivals off the bridle on the approach to the second last and, despite an untidy jump at the final fence, was pushed out on the run-in to score by seven lengths.

The John McConnell-trained Rexem (16/5) finished second under Ben Harvey, while Percy Warner (5/6f from 11/8) was another three-and-a-half lengths back in third.

"He jumped brilliant and I couldn't have asked for better of him really. He is going to come on for it fitness wise and I’m delighted with him," Kennedy said.

"He is a big horse and is carrying a small bit of weight on his first run in a while, so there is room for improvement there.

"He never missed a beat with his jumping, he was brilliant. He will get further but he is not a slow horse either, so I'd say he is fairly versatile trip wise.

"I had ridden him over hurdles once before and schooled him over fences before he came here. I was always very pleased with his jumping and I wasn’t expecting it to be an issue today.

"It's good to get another winner for Philip who is a great supporter of the yard."