Wither Hills subsequently disqualified after beating Isobella Blue at Roscommon in August, got off the mark by defying top-weight in the Lewis-Crosby Challenge Handicap Hurdle at Punchestown under Andrew Lynch.

Nicely backed to do so to (10s in the morning into 7s) Wither Hills got there cruising to deliver his challenge to the pace-setting He's Cool He then drifted left on the run-in but once Lynch switched his whip the successful Karinga Bay five-year-old went on to beat Monahullan Prince by two and three parts of a length.

Brian Hamilton trains Wither Hills for Mrs Vaughan and he said: "When he lost the race in Roscommon I thought it was 50/50 and I still think the best horse won.

"It's good for the owners to get that win – last time at Listowel the ground was a bit too dead for him. We've retrieved a few quid now and that keeps everyone happy.

"We might look at running him over fences but the ground will probably go against him from here on. He just about gets two miles and he needs decent ground."