Travelling strongly throughout in the hands of Jonjo O'Neill Jr, Springwell Bay loomed up alongside the favourite Attacca before bursting clear to win with plenty of room to spare.

After finishing second in the prestigious Goffs Land Rover Bumper at the Punchestown Festival in 2021, the gelding was subsequently bought for €155,000.

A winner on his first two outings for Jonjo O'Neill, the six-year-old was beaten into third at Cheltenham in November by John McConnell's Fennor Cross but looked a different proposition for this step up in trip.

Jonjo O'Neill senior said of his 3/1 winner: "He's been a a little bit difficult, but Rome wasn't built in a day. When you've got patient owners you can take your time.

"He won't be going to Cheltenham this year. We'll make sure what he's like when he gets back, he needs another run. We don't know what we've got yet but we're hoping he's nice. He has had little issues, though.

"We've always thought he was a nice horse but he hasn't matured. We fancied him at Cheltenham, but he checked out going to the second last and we were disappointed.

"That's a big step in the right direction and the extra distance really helped."