Willie Mullins took the feature, Gordon Elliott added two to his tally, the fine form of the Pat Fahy stable continued unabated with another brace, and a Charles Byrne-trained horse landed a tidy gamble. Clonmel, on a crisp spring afternoon, was a microcosm of the national hunt season thus far.

Ballymac Vic, who was beginning to make a real impact on the Irish Derby when his challenge was cut short at the quarter-final stage, came out on top in the hottest of last Saturday night’s opening-round heats of the Connolly’s Red Mills Irish Laurels at Curraheen Park and he rates nap material to follow up this evening.