Fast ground and a drop in trip proved a good recipe for Benemeade who justified 2/1 favouritism in the opening 2m4f maiden hurdle at Wexford.

Davy Condon gave the son of Beneficial a confident ride, jumping to the front three out and he sat quiet as a number of challengers tried to bustle him up approaching the last.

The Noel Meade-trained winner was far from fluent at the final flight but Condon only briefly shook him up on the run-in to beat Stay In My Heart (8/1) by a comfortable three lengths.

Morning price gamble Phantom Of Plenty (8/1, 14’s earlier) was a further length and a half adrift in third.

Earl Gaynor, from Antrim, is part of the successful northern-based ownership All Fours Partnership and said “He was the form horse in the race and we were hoping he would win. We might bring him to Galway now.”

Additional reporting by Donal Murphy