DUNDALK in mid-January isn’t the obvious springboard to Cheltenham but that meeting is the plan for Glorious Zoff who made a winning start on the flat in Ireland for Gordon Elliott in the mile-and-a-half rated race.

A winner of a Sligo maiden hurdle on his first start for Elliott before coming up short in better company on his next two outings, the Deva Racing Syndicate-owned son of Zoffany lined up here as a six-race maiden on the level. He had never tried beyond a mile though and the switch to this distance made all the difference to this four-year-old who gave Sam Ewing the first success of what could be a big year for the young apprentice.