There was a desperately tight finish to the BAR 1 Betting Royal Bond Novice Hurdle as favourite Koktail Brut eventually held off Blake to score.
The pair were in the first two places throughout the two-mile Grade 2 contest, with Jack Kennedy happy to dominate proceedings from the front on the Gordon Elliott-trained Koktail Brut (8/13fav).
They were locked together going down to the final flight and although Koktail Brut measured it best, Donagh Meyler was in no mood to give in on Noel Meade's Blake, who was finding for pressure all the way to the line.
As the post loomed it was Koktail Brut who battled best, just prevailing by a head with a length and a quarter further back to The Passing Wife (16/1) back in third.
The sponsors reacted by trimming the winner to 25/1 for the Sky Bet Supreme Novices' Hurdle.
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