Riding the home-produced 10-year-old gelding, Mr Coolcaum, O’Meara crossed the line almost a second faster than his closest rival in the €2,500 class sponsored by Claremorris Auctions.

“It was a technical course and I would said that in terms of the questions asked, it was right up there with Wexford Equestrian,” said O’Meara. “It wasn’t a big start list, but I knew that the combinations that got through to the jump-off would be very competitive and that it wouldn’t be an easy one to win. The jump-off was always going to be fast, but Mr Coolcaum is well able for this type of pressure and going last gave me the advantage.”