DEREK O’Connor bridged a 23-year gap between wins in the Connacht Hotel Qualified Riders’ Handicap, taking out the day-one feature on Comfort Zone for the all-conquering Joseph O’Brien team.

This time last year, J.P. McManus’ dual-purpose stayer came here with a more obvious profile and was sent off the 5/1 favourite. After failing to trouble the judge in a trio of outings this term, the Ballybrit betting ring allowed him to return at juicy odds of 18/1, but he demonstrated that the engine of old was still there.

It was a race of changing complexions late on. Too Bossy For Us, who also never landed a blow in this €110,000 contest last year when 7/2 favourite, gave much more like his true running under a positive Jody Townend before his stamina gave way late on, fading to sixth.

O’Connor got a sweet tune out of the dual Grade 2-winning hurdler and had enough in hand to deny Bill Durkan’s Holy See under young rider Kaitlyn Ryan and Galway regular Teed Up. The Durkan team also reached the frame with Eagle Fang in fourth.

Speaking after following up his win aboard Pat Hughes’ Rapid Deployment in 2003, O’Connor said: “The Connacht Hotel is one of those prestigious races to win as an amateur. It's a lovely race to win. It’s extremely difficult to win.

“It's a bit like Mayo in the football, it's not simple to win it! There’s such a high calibre of amateur rider riding in Ireland at the moment and such a high calibre of horse competing in the race.

“My horse jumped nice, travelled nice and I felt the horse was happy in himself, so it worked out great. I got the vibe that the horse really enjoyed it.

“I’m from only 20 minutes away so winning here is very special, especially on the Monday night.”

O’Brien has been in spectacular form internationally this season, and victory here continued his potentially record-breaking spell, having saddled five runners.

“It’s fantastic - he got a great ride from Derek,” said O’Brien, who also struck on the same card with Dancing Saxon.

“We fancied him in the race last year and he didn’t run as well as we had hoped. Probably getting a bit of room on the outside there, he got very sweet. The slower ground maybe helped him as well.

“He’s run well here at Galway in the past so you might see him back here at the weekend. He’s won a November Handicap and a couple of graded races over hurdles so he’s been a great servant for us.

“He’s been running for big pots for the last while and he’s been knocking on the door and threatening to win one. I’m delighted that he did it here today, to win the feature race here on the Monday night is very special and it sets up the week well.”

He added: “Derek is a fantastic rider and it was great to have him on board. It looked a bit messy during the race and into the dip it looked to be a rough enough race. Derek got a wide run around them.”