Florida Pearl ran out an popular winner of the Hennessy Cognac Gold Cup at Leopardstown this afternoon.
The Willie Mullins-trained 12-year-old was taking the Grade One event for an unprecedented fourth time and was returned at 5-1.
Le Coudray, the 15-8 favourite, finished second.
Richard Johnson always had Florida Pearl travelling well on the heels of the leaders and went to the head of affairs four fences from home as the front-running Cloudy Bays began to fade.
Harbour Pilot matched strides with Florida Pearl, though, and the pair were stride for stride jumping the third last.
However, the race was gifted to Johnson's mount after his main rival unseated Paul Carberry at the penultimate fence.
Florida Pearl was then hampered by the riderless horse over the last but managed to survive and despite tiring on the run-in took the €95,300 first prize by three lengths.
Ladbrokes trimmed both Florida Pearl and Harbour Pilot into 25-1 from 33s for the Tote Cheltenham Gold Cup on March 18th.