Very few of the 14,800 strong crowd got rich from Ned Kelly's success in the Grade Two novice hurdle, but there was still a lot to admire in the Edward O'Grady-trained horse's performance.
The 4 to 7 favourite made it six from six over hurdles with a smooth one-length defeat of the other John Magnier runner, Kilcash Castle, who had set a fine pace from the start.
It meant nothing to Ned Kelly, however, and once Norman Williamson pointed him through the inner, the favourite wasn't at full stretch to win.
It was enough to allow Cashmans leave Ned Kelly at 14 to 1 for next year's Smurfit Champion Hurdle and that is also the line of thinking O'Grady is proceeding with.
"There are some nice races Istabraq won't be going for, and I wouldn't mind putting him over two and a half miles. He's a lovely horse who is only five and it's all to play for with him. I wanted to see him run on that ground before putting him away," O'Grady said.
Dessie Hughes was out of luck in the National with Rathbawn Prince and his day didn't get much better. His runner in the handicap chase, Ojay, was going like a winner when coming down at the second last, allowing Manodee to score from Rolling Maul.
The Hughes runner in the beginners' chase managed to finish, but Annaghmore Gale failed to cope with the Sue Bramell runner, Gregorio.
Noel Meade continued his good run of form with another double. Macabeo took over from the pace-setting Genghis Khan at the third last in the handicap hurdle and couldn't be caught by the co-favourite, Aunt Aggie.
Then the Aga Khan-bred Harithabad just got the best of things in the point-to-point final. The well-backed favourite in this race, Moss Bawn, lost his chance veering right and was reported to have lost his action. Foxchapel King was a losing favourite in the National, but Rostropovich did score for Mouse Morris in the opener after a battle with Albatros.
The £180,000 purchase is part owned by the Formula One boss, Eddie Jordan.
A total of £1,090,434 was bet with the bookies yesterday and a further £352,425 with the Tote.
