Kopek Des Bordes lived up to the considerable expectation around his debut over fences when taking the Pat Sheils Memorial Irish EBF Beginners Chase at Navan on Monday.

The Willie Mullins-trained five-year-old was twice a Grade 1 winner last season, taking novice hurdles at Leopardstown and Cheltenham before a fourth-placed run in the KPMG Champion Novice Hurdle at Punchestown.

He was the 2/9 favourite under Paul Townend to get his chasing career off to a winning start, and those odds looked more and more reasonable as he travelled round Navan.

Jumping neatly and making matters look very simple throughout, the gelding strolled to a five-length victory. He is already around the 2/1 mark for the Arkle Trophy at Cheltenham.

Found A Fifty held on to his title with a decisive triumph in the Bar One Racing Fortria Chase.

The eight-year-old took the Grade 2 event by a neck from Solness last term, but though a subsequent step up to two and a half miles was a success, it seemed three miles was a bridge too far for him on debut this year.

He was dropped back to two miles at Navan under Jack Kennedy, where he started at 5/2 in a reduced field due to the soft to heavy ground which caused the rescheduling of the race from Saturday to Monday.

The going made the contest a real battle and eventually it was Found A Fifty who proved up to the task, coming home five lengths ahead of the Willie Mullins-trained 11/8 favourite Dinoblue as her stablemate Hercule Du Seuil was back in third.

Elliott said: “Two miles on that ground is right up his alley, and probably two and a half miles on better ground.

“It was a good performance and Noel (Moran, of owner Bective Stud) is hitting the crossbar all weekend, so it is great to get a winner for him.

“He jumped brilliant – everything bar the second-last, he was very good.”

When asked if the move to three miles will be shelved, the trainer added: “I think we will.

“We will pick and choose his races (over two miles and two and a half miles).

“I’m not sure where we are going to go, but we’ll see.”