Andy Dufresne made a winning start to his novice chasing season with a facile seven and a half length success at Wexford on Monday.
The odds-on favourite, who had won his four-year-old maiden at Borris House in 2018, eased clear of his ten rivals from the third-last fence to score easily for Mark Walsh and Gordon Elliott.
“It is great to get a clear round in and get him off the mark. I thought that he was very professional and he jumped well from the fourth last,” said Elliott of the former Grade 2 winner.
“Looking at the race, I’m not sure what Mark (Walsh) will say but myself I think that maybe the step up to two and a half miles might suit him better, that’s his trip.
“He was bought to be a chaser and hopefully he can lucky for the owners now. He is a nice horse, we like him.
“He is a big horse and not the finished article. Even looking at him here today he is still a big shelly horse and there is only going to be improvement in him.
“I have to speak to JP (McManus) and Frank (Berry) to see where we go next, but I would imagine looking at that, I would like to step him up in trip.
“The Drinmore is coming up, whether we go straight into a Grade 1 or look for a soft approach, I’ll have to speak to the lads and see what they think.”
It proved to be a successful card for ex-Irish pointers with Minella Indo having a very comfortable return to action by taking the Grade 3 M.W. Hickey Memorial Chase by a wide margin.
Only denied by a length in the RSA Chase at March, the former Dromahane winner who is now a two-time Grade 1 victor, is now likely to go to Navan for the Grade 2 BetVictor Make Your Best Bet Chase following his 25-length defeat of the Cheltenham Festival winner Milan Native.
