Slanagaibhgoleir gets the last wrong but recovers© Photo Healy Racing
Slanagaibhgoleir got the job done after an eventful conclusion to the extended 2m6f maiden hurdle in Punchestown.
He wore down 8/11 favourite Springt De La Mare racing to the final flight, but Churchroad Prince was in the process of winding up his challenge at that final obstacle.
Slanagaibhgoleir got his jumping wrong there and third-running Springt De la Mare took a plunging fall when looking held.
Churchroad Prince soon closed up on Slanagaibhgoleir on the run-in and, indeed, headed him in the closing stages but, to Slanagaibhgoleir's credit, he fought back for Mark Walsh to get up by a neck close home at 3/1.
Churchroad Prince took a runner-up prize at 12/1 and was a length and three-parts clear of a keeping-on Bossofthebrownies (40/1).
Gordon Elliott said: “He’d been a bit disappointing, and I’d say the step up in trip suited him today.
“I thought he’d thrown it away at the last, but he picked up again.
“He seems more in his comfort zone over that trip.”
Additional reporting by Alan Magee
