Affordale Fury rallied to great effect to land Grade One honours in the Savills Chase at Leopardstown.
All eyes were on dual Cheltenham Gold Cup winner Galopin Des Champs as he made his belated seasonal bow as the 6-5 favourite and it briefly looked as though he would enjoy a dream return in the extended three-mile contest.
Affordale Fury proved incredibly game for jockey Sam Ewing though, having been in the front rank throughout, he was briefly headed by Galopin Des Champs turning for home but kept finding more to edge back in front at the last.
He then had to fend off the late finish of 2024 Grand National winner I Am Maximus, who was two and a half lengths back in second, with Galopin Des Champs a further three-quarters of a length away in third.
He then had to fend off the late finish of 2024 Grand National winner I Am Maximus, who was two and a half lengths back in second, with Galopin Des Champs a further three-quarters of a length away in third.
The Noel Meade-trained Affordale Fury is now 10-1 from 50s with Paddy Power for the Cheltenham Gold Cup in March, with the handler enjoying his first top-level strike since Beacon Edge won the 2021 Drinmore Novice Chase.
Meade said: "It's fabulous. Philip (Polly) has been very lucky with me with the couple of horses he's had. We haven't too many but the couple of horses we have turned to gold.
"When this fella was second in the (2023) Albert Bartlett as a novice hurdler, we were really looking forward to him as a chaser.
"He won his novice chase and then things went wrong on us, and he missed the whole of the next season.
"He was sort of left in no man's land. I was kind of saving him last season for the Irish National and he would have got into it. He obviously would have been hard enough to beat in it but things went wrong again."
Affordale Fury had three runs before his Savills Chase date, notably finishing second to Envoi Allen in Down Royal's Champion Chase before winning a Thurles Listed contest last time out.
Meade added: "They changed the rules when the new season came in and he had to have another run so I ran him in Gowran, over two and a half miles and he ran very well, probably too well as the handicapper put him up five.
"We said we'd head for the stars and we went to the north and he ran a very big race there. He didn't jump as well as I thought he might.
"Then he went to Thurles, which he didn't really handle that well, but he won anyway.
"Philip said to me before the race 'What do you think?' and I said whatever happened today was him because he cannot be any better than he is.
"He worked the other day and worked the sight out of your eyes, he was unbelievable. I said 'This horse is in some nick'.
"Then Donagh (Meyler, regular rider) got suspended and we had to go back to Sam, who is having a great meeting so it's not going downhill getting Sam by any means."
