Best Mate's goose was cooked at Leopardstown today where Michael Hourigan's Beef Or Salmon finally displayed what he is capable of doing when at his best, winning the Grade 1 Lexus Chase in an awesome display under Paul Carberry.
Beef Or Salmon raced towards the rear for much of the race before progressing to join Best Mate four fences from home.
On the run to the second last, Carberry asked Beef Or Salmon to quicken and, in a matter of strides, had stretched clear from Best Mate, eventually proving too good, with Carberry cheekily waving back to Jim Culloty close home.
Afterwards Hourigan stated 'we always knew he had that ability but it was even hard to imagine he'd do it that impressively!'
He added, 'he's a class act and will be seen next in the Hennessy Gold Cup at Leopardstown in February. He'll be an even better horse at Cheltenham in March.'
A delighted Carberry himself reported 'he's definitely the best chaser I've ever ridden and when he gets into top gear he's unreal.'
Beef Or Salmon is now a 5/1 chance (from 10/1) for the Cheltenham Gold Cup with Sean Graham bookmakers.
The heavy conditions took its toll on the seven runners in the Grade 1 Ascon/Rohcon Novice Chase, which, eventually, went to Michael O'Brien's Forget The Past.
Ridden by top amateur Denis Cullen, Forget The Past out-battled Leading The Way from the last, in what could best be described as a slog.
Another horse which got stuck in the mud was Noel Meade's Rosaker, who finished well behind clear winner Emotional Moment in the Grade 2 woodiesdiy.com Christmas Hurdle.
John Kiely's Blazing Liss, under Davy Russell, was an impressive winner of the O2 Hurdle while Barry Geraghty's excellent run continued, riding a double, sandwiched between four falls.
Geraghty partnered Akshar to win the opening maiden hurdle for Dermot Weld before doubling his tally on Emotional Moment, for Kicking King's trainer Tom Taaffe.
