With Sunday's Navan card called off due to frost, the attention shifted to Thurles where the Willie Mullins-trained Ramillies made a promising start over fences in the beginners chase.
Sent off the 6/4 second-favourite behind market leading stablemate Tenzing - the mount of Sean O'Keeffe - grey seven-year-old Ramillies sat second for much of the three-mile contest before picking up the running after the second-last fence.
Around four lengths to the good coming to the last, Ramillies negotiated the obstacle well and was kept up to his work to repel the staying-on Tenzig by two and a quarter lengths, with 15 lengths back to the third Ballykeel (10/1).
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Sky Bet reacted by cutting Ramillies to 14/1 from 25s for the National Hunt Chase at Cheltenham in March, while Paddy Power and Betfair make him 12/1 (from 20/1) for the Grade One Brown Advisory Novices' Chase at the Festival.
Mullins said on Racing TV: "I'd actually put Paul (Townend) on Tenzig this morning and he rang me up and said he wanted to ride Ramillies so I said 'great' and his reasoning was right. Ramillies had been running in better quality races and his homework is always good, he's just been disappointing us a bit.
"Paul thought he jumped well an the nicer ground here helped. He's probably not going to be a proper winter horse, he likes a nice bit of ground.
"I don't know how high up the ladder he'll go but he's won his beginners well and we'll continue for a few months. His jumping was very slick.
"Tenzing jumped a bit too big and carefully for these fences here. He was getting into the race later on, he probably wants even further. Once he gets the hang of it he'll be alright."
Elsewhere on the card, Liberty Dance was seriously impressive in the Listed Billy Harney Memorial Irish EBF Mares Novice Hurdle.
Gordon Elliott's representative was the 6/5 favourite on the back of a clear-cut maiden success at the same track at the start of the month and took the step up in grade in her stride, beating Belle The Lioness (13/2) by five and a half lengths in the hands of Davy Russell, who immediate announced his retirement from the saddle.
Sky Bet cut Liberty Dance to 12/1 from 20/1 for the Mares' Novices' Hurdle at Cheltenham.
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