A TOUR de force at Listowel last month indicated that the John Queally-trained Djingle could be a rising star over fences and he coped well with the latest stage of his development in landing the €50,000 Grade 3 Ballymore Irish EBF Novice Chase.

The six-year-old was returned the 4/5 favourite under Adrian Heskin – the retained rider for the victorious McNeill Family – and he set out to make all in this two-mile affair. Djingle was anxious to get on with things, as is his wont, and he couldn’t dominate these rivals to the same extent as those he encountered at Listowel. However, he was not found wanting when it mattered, and from the third last he answered Heskin’s every call to defeat the Galway Hurdle second Due Reward by four lengths.