McNamara takes the plaudits at the end of game changing week for the Irish

At the end of a week where Irish jump racing's power was confirmed in the most ruthless manner possible at Cheltenham, the Pierce Molony Memorial Novice Chase showed there is room at the top table for the small trainer too as the Andrew McNamara-trained I'm A Game Changer bolted up in the Grade 3 feature.

Darragh O'Keeffe – one of the few top Irish riders that did not ride a winner at the festival – gave the son of Arcadio a supremely confident ride, swinging into contention before the final fence and then quickening away to score by eight lengths from Whatsnotoknow.

Despite the 14-1 starting price, victory did not surprise the winning trainer, although the manner of it did so.

"That was fantastic!" McNamara said. "I thought turning in he might run into a place but Darragh said he was confident and won well. We had been riding him that way in good races to try and pick up a few quid, and today's race was a slightly lesser race than the ones he'd been running in.

"We thought about tipping away in these races and leave him as a novice again for next season but we're not too upset that plan has gone out the window. He'll keep going for the summer and there are loads of races for him, and he'll still be a novice until November."

Returning heroes continue winning spree

Jack Kennedy is still pinching himself after the Cheltenham week he enjoyed, culminating in Minella Indo's victory in the Gold Cup, and he was back on the scoreboard as former Grade 1 winner Commander Of Fleet landed the 3m hurdle.

The Gigginstown-owned son of Fame And Glory, who also finished second in the 2019 Albert Bartlett Novices' Hurdle, stamped his class when winning by a handy length and three quarters from Blast Of Koeman.

"He is a horse with loads of ability and it's nice to win on him again," said Kennedy, whose mind was unsurprisingly still on what he achieved at Cheltenham. "It was unbelievable, I'm still on cloud nine. I had close to 300 messages on the phone! Everyone at home was thrilled."

The Cheltenham Festival top jockey, Rachael Blackmore, joined Kennedy as they were given a guard of honour by their fellow riders to the parade ring before the 3m handicap hurdle, and she continued her winning spree away from Prestbury Park.

Blackmore and Henry de Bromhead teamed up to win an eventful beginners chase with the Chris Jones-owned Myth Buster, who went one better than he did in this race last year.

"He needed a good jump at the last. We didn't get it in this race last year, but we got it this time," she said.

Results, replays and analysis

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