He Rock's soars over a fence in Roscommon© Photo Healy Racing
He's Rocks got a flyer from the start in the extended three mile one handicap chase at Roscommon and he made the most of it to come home clear.
The 9/4 joint favourite jumped off into a clear lead under Paul Townend who was able to dictate the pace throughout.
The pair jumped from fence to fence and had the race won from the second last. The winning margin was 22 lengths from Sonny B (4/1).
The other 9/4 joint favourite, Aurora Bell runied his chance with a bad blunder at the fourth last. He came home third.
Trainer Stephen Mahon said: "He’s been in great form since Galway. Sophie who has been riding him out said she couldn’t hold him anymore. I rode him out then and to be fair to her she was right.
“He seemed to come alive on the way to Galway and since we put the blinkers and tongue tie on him.
“I said to Tom ‘imagine you made me run him on quick ground here in the summer’. But Tom (Quinn, owner) said at the time he wasn’t worth worrying about and he was frustrating.
“I’ve always held him in high regard and ran him in the Troytown last year. I’ve always thought he was in the same bracket as Prince Of Tara, who won the Troytown. We could look at that again and he’ll campaign in those three mile races over the winter.
“I feel sorry for Keith Donoghue. The horse lost his confidence in the past jumping and he got him going again.
“I was even going to let him carry 2lb overweight and I suppose I could have let him carry 7lb over today the way he won.” He Rock's was following up on a win in Galway for which he got 9lbs.
Additional reporting by Gary Carson
