A dash from the school yard to the stable yard proved a profitable one for jockey Evan Dwan, as the 19-year-old Leaving Certificate student secured his maiden victory inside the rails by taking the closing race at Limerick aboard the Pat Doyle-trained Mossback.

Cheltenham Gold Cup winning connections, jockey Bryan Cooper, trainer Gordon Elliott and owners Gigginstown Stud, combined to take the feature at the matinee meeting in Clonmel, the Suir Valley Chase, with Bright New Dawn.

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.

In-form Luke Dempsey again proved his star quality when partnering Thunder Zone, the outsider of just three runners, in the CIT race Week Hurdle on Student Race Day in Cork yesterday.