THE returning Blue Lord headed an excellent afternoon for Willie Mullins by outpointing stablemate Tornado Flyer in the Grade 2 Clonmel Oil Chase which will surely pave the way for a return to the big time in the coming months.

A dual Grade 1-winning novice chaser last term, Blue Lord was moving up to two and a half miles for the first time in nearly two years and Paul Townend maintained a watching brief at the rear of the four-runner field on the Simon Munir and Isaac Souede-owned gelding.