BY far the best novice chase of the season so far presented Benruben with the blacktype success that should have come his way back in 2019 as he landed the Grade 3 Ballymore Group Irish EBF Kilbegnet Novice Chase.

The Henry de Bromhead-trained seven-year-old would have won a listed race at Thurles in March 2019 only for falling at the last but he had run just three times since then with his most recent outing yielding a beginners’ chase triumph at Killarney in August.