WHEN he puts it altogether Snow Falcon is a very high-class sort and he looked as least as good as ever on his return from four months off to give Noel Meade his first victory in the Grade 2 PWC Champion Chase for 13 years.

A winner of last season’s Kerry National and also a Grade 2 at Down Royal, Snow Falcon (7/1) was returning to the fray for the first time since an unplaced run at Royal Ascot. He looked to be doing everything right throughout this two-and-a-half-mile affair and it was all looking ominous for his rivals when Sean Flanagan’s mount moved up to dispute the lead at the third last.

From this point on the Patricia Hunt-owned gelding always seemed to have the prolific Peregrine Run and the multiple Grade 1-placed Us And Them covered and he went on to score by six and a half lengths. Peregrine Run took second on his first run since finishing fourth in the Galway Plate, while third went to the reliable Us And Them.

“He’s been a fabulous horse for us and he’s very good when he’s fresh,” said Meade. “I didn’t think that he could be ready for this but he worked brilliantly over a mile on Tuesday so we said we’d have a go. The obvious place to go now is the big chase at Down Royal next month.”

More Bob for Mullins

After posting a series of runner-up finishes on the flat, Eight And Bob made a successful return to jumping in the €50,000 Grade B Kilkenny Racing Festival Handicap Hurdle. A first winner of this race for Willie Mullins in 11 years, Eight And Bob was allowed to go off at 12/1 to defy a mark that was a stone higher than the one he last won off over hurdles.

The increasingly testing conditions were always likely to take a toll on the contestants and from two out in this three-mile affair the outcome concerned just Eight And Bob and the ultra reliable Bothar Dubh. The latter gave his all but Paul Townend’s mount was just too good and got home by a neck, while the first two were 15 lengths clear of Line Out. The winner is likely to remain a force in decent staying handicaps.

Smiles all round: Eight And Bob and Paul Townend won for owners Act D Wagg Syndicate repersented by Ashling Gannon and children James, Harry and George \ Healy Racing

There was further joy for the Mullins family when the dual bumper winner Rocket Lad (6/4f) won the two-and-a-half-mile maiden hurdle for Emmet Mullins and his first cousin David.

This smart gelding was clearly none the worse for a last-flight fall in a Killarney maiden in August when he held every chance as he made all the running and pressed home his superiority in the closing stages to defeat Drury by five and a half lengths. A graded novice hurdle at Cork over three miles could be next for the Paul Byrne-owned six-year-old.