SUMOS Novios got the better of Mala Beach for the father and son combination of Liam and Jonathan Burke at Cork.

Sent off at 3/1 behind the 8/13 favourite, the pair tracked Val De Ferbet for much of the Grade 3 Imperial Call Chase.

Denis O'Regan looked to be sitting comfortably on Mala Beach but when Sumos Novios hit the front, he found extra reserves. The winner's jumping in the straight was exemplary and while Mala Beach attempted to close the gap, he could only get to within two and a quarter lengths.

Burke senior said of his recent Wexford scorer: "He is settling and did everything right today. I could never before in his life run him like that, so quick (from his previous run) and it is only now that he is 10 years of age that he is taking his training properly.

"He found plenty when he asked him and, for a big horse, he is agile enough over his fences. I'll run him in Punchestown if the weather lasts, but it needs to be safe for him to run.

"He's after winning a graded race now and it's great to get one like that. It's a great win for Jonathan, too, as he needed to get on a good one and it'll give him more confidence."

TREBLE

Title-chasing Gordon Elliott notched up a treble on the card with the first two of those winners being partnered by Keith Donoghue.

Park Paddocks (7/2) was an easy 16-length winner of the two mile-Dermot Casey Tree Care Maiden Hurdle but Moonlight Escape (5/1) had to fight to beat odds-on favourite Bang Bang Rosie by three-parts of a length in the O'Flynn Motors Mallow Mares Maiden Hurdle.

The runner-up was trained by Elliott's championship rival Willie Mullins and the pair finished 19 lengths clear of the third, Miz Dilleen.

Elliott's treble was completed when Denis O'Regan partnered Goodthynemilan (5/1) to a 12-length success in the Munster Waste Management Handicap Hurdle over three miles.

The most valuable race of the day was the Grade B FBD Insurance Handicap Hurdle and that two-mile, three-furlong contest and €29,500 cheque went to the connections of Ministerforsport.

The Noel O'Neill-trained seven-year-old sprang a 20/1 surprise to beat Hareth by one and a quarter lengths, with Donal McInerney in the saddle.

READ THE FULL CORK REPORT IN NEXT WEEKEND'S EDITION OF THE IRISH FIELD