Senecia pictured on his way to victory under Ian Power© Photo Healy Racing
A Grade 2 winner over flights, Hercule Du Seuil was expected to account for his rivals in the Burleigh Accountancy Beginners Chase but he was ultimately upstaged by the Vincent Halley-trained Senecia (13/2 from 10s early).
The winner of a maiden hurdle at Wexford last summer, the lightly-raced victor was last seen finishing fifth in a Grade 3 contest at Cork in December.
Making his debut over fences this evening, the son of Ask was never far from the pace under Ian Power and was briefly short of room on the run to three out.
He came with his challenge on the outer away from the next and soon gained a narrow lead, keeping on well under pressure on the run-in, coming home a length-and-a-quarter to the good.
Returned the 8/13 favourite, Hercule Du Seuil had to settle for second after attempting to make all, with his jumping far from fluent at times.
The front pair went 13-lengths clear of Changing The Rules (14/1) in third, while Roseys Hollow (10/3) crashed out in the early stages.
"I'm delighted with that. It's a long time since he ran and you'd imagine he'll improve a bit and he should learn a lot from today," Halley commented.
"His form at Cork was very good and he's probably strengthened up this year, he's a very big horse. Last year he won a maiden hurdle at Wexford very nicely but things didn't really happen for him after that, he had a lot of niggles.
"He's a nice one to look forward to. I think he's at his best on nicer ground, he can handle soft ground, but if we can get a bit more experience with him over the summer then we'll see after that, we'll work our way up the ladder hopefully.
"I think he's happy enough between 2m and 2m 4f at the moment but he does stay well."
Additional reporting by Mark Nunan
