< Watson Lake may not be the force of old but he showed he is certainly no back number when landing the Clonmel Oil Chase under Paul Carberry.
The 11-year-old, a Grade One winner five years ago, has played at the top table over fences for a number of years and was sent off at 13-2 to gain his first success of the campaign.
Noel Meade's veteran raced zestfully at the head of affairs and although he was tiring in the testing conditions late on, he held on to score by a length and three-quarters from One Cool Cookie
Paul Nolan's mare Moskova came out on top in a thrilling finish to the European Breeders Fund T.A. Morris Memorial Mares Chase.
The 2-1 shot looked to have fluffed her lines when making a mistake at halfway, but she came back tenaciously under a power-packed Ruby Walsh ride to score by half a length from Hello Kitty
Nolan said: "Super Ruby! After the mistake I thought she'd find it very difficult because we were worried about her fitness.
"She battled well to the line though and she is very tough."
Walsh was earlier successful on the Willie Mullins-trained Fionnegas (4-7), who maintained his unbeaten record in the INH Stallion Owners EBF Novice Hurdle.
Trainer Willie Mullins said: "This looked a nice opportunity on paper. He has not been back in that long and it is nice to see that he retains his ability from earlier this season.
"The Barry & Sandra Kelly Memorial Novice Hurdle at Navan is an option for him."
Mullins went on to complete a treble as 4-1 chance Dorset Square landed the Clonmel Oil Service Station Handicap Hurdle, after which Florida Pal (4-9 favourite) justified his prohibitive odds in the Powerstown Park INH Flat Race.
The trainer added: "The trip at Punchestown the last day (two miles) was too short for Dorset Square and he had a nice, light weight on his back for that ground.
"He'll stick to longer trips now."
