Jungle Boogie proved the toughest of the field in taking the Savills New Year's Day Chase for Henry de Bromhead at Tramore.
Six contested the Grade Three event run over two miles and seven furlongs on heavy ground and the winner was not especially popular as a 10-1 shot.
Under Darragh O'Keeffe the 10-year-old was headed two out, but as the race neared its conclusion stamina came to the fore and Jungle Boogie displayed plenty to rally and win by a length from Classic Getaway, the 2-5 favourite.
The win initiated a big-race double for the De Bromhead team, with Bob Olinger on the scoreboard in the Relkeel Hurdle at Cheltenham.
"He was very good. Henry said to jump out and make the running on him," O'Keeffe said.
"He jumped very good bar the fence at the top of the hill the first time, he just got under it. I kind of gave him a squeeze and he kind of put down on me.
"Other than that he jumped really well and kept at it well. I'm delighted to win this race, especially after having three seconds earlier on.
"When I saw Danny (Mullins) coming to me, I thought 'not again!'.
"Thankfully my lad rallied and got back going again. He wasn't beaten that far the last day against the best of the two-milers in Ireland and he stayed on really well.
"For a horse that wants a trip, he travels really well. I'm delighted to get that with him now and I'm very grateful to connections for giving me the spin on him.
"I said to the lads afterwards that the track was plenty tight for him, as he is a big, big horse. Thankfully he got the job done and it's a nice race to win."
