Kaid d'Authie upstaged his stablemate Final Demand to land the Ladbrokes Novice Chase at Leopardstown.
Winner of five of his six previous starts and impressive in winning his first two starts over fences, Final Demand was all the rage to complete his hat-trick under Paul Townend as the 30-100 favourite.
The seven-year-old led his three rivals for much of the two-mile-five-furlong contest, but his jumping was entirely fluent and it was clear he had a real race on his hands when joined by fellow Willie Mullins-trained runner Kaid d’Authie (5-1) on the approach to the third fence from home.
Carrying the colours of JP McManus in the hands of Mark Walsh, Kaid d’Authie kicked clear before the home turn and found plenty on the run-in to beat the staying-on Western Fold by four and a quarter lengths, with Final Demand weakening to finish a disappointing last of three as the other Mullins runner, Jimmy Du Seuil, crashed out at the final obstacle.
Mullins said: "Kaid d’Authie was always a horse that showed me a lot at home. I’d think just putting cheekpieces on him has made a huge difference. It’s bringing out the sort of ability that he shows me at home.
"He’s a horse that’s always been disappointing to me, on the racetrack. The cheekpieces just made a big difference to him.
"Mark said he only made one bit of a mistake, at the third last, but he said otherwise he was foot perfect."
Kaid d’Authie was cut to 4-1 from 16-1 for the Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase at the Cheltenham Festival, while Final Demand was eased to 4-1 from evens.
Of Final Demand, Mullins added: "I was just disappointed the way he jumped the second and third fences. He missed the fifth last and when a horse does that in a race like that he has to improve quickly and he didn’t.
"He went on and did the same at the next. To me that was not good enough.
"Paul said he twisted a little bit in the air. I couldn’t see that as I didn’t watch the head-on, I like watching them sideways. There might be some little niggle there that we’re not seeing, we might see it tomorrow morning.
"I just think he didn’t show that enthusiasm that he normally does."
There was a dramatic conclusion to the Coolmore NH Sires Los Angeles Irish EBF Mares INH Flat Race with amateur rider Stephen Connor given a 14-day suspension after mistaking the winning post on Royal Hillsborough, allowing Moonverrin to get back up and win.
Martin Hassett's 20-1 shot Moonverrin looked set to secure an authoritative success in the Grade Two finale after being pushed into the lead by Finian Maguire, but soon began to wander under pressure.
Royal Hillsborough, a 9-1 chance trained by Stuart Crawford, was able to close the gap and edged to the front inside the final furlong, but Connor stopped riding passing the 50-yard marker, giving Moonverrin another bite of the cherry and she was able to get back up and score by a short head.
Winning train Hassett said: "I’m speechless, it’s the first time ever!
"This is for all the lads at home. It’s not just me, it’s all the boys at home.
"It looked down the back like she was struggling but she just devoured the ground and came home like a train, but she had to battle at the same time.
"It’s our first graded winner and it’s special, especially at the Dublin Racing Festival.
"She’s going to be entered in everything but whether we go to Cheltenham or wait for the mares’ races, we’ll see."
