Denis O'Regan added a fourth Festival winner to his record when Tully East took the final race on the first day of the Festival, the Close Brothers Novices' Handicap Chase, on the Alan Fleming-trained Tully East.
The 8/1 shot beat Gold Present, trained by Nicky Henderson, by a length and a quarter.
O'Regan rode Tidal Bay to win the Racing Post Arkle Novices' Chase and Inglis Drever to win the Stayers' Hurdle in 2008, and took the 2012 Pertemps Final on Cape Tribulation. He moved back to Ireland to take up a retainer with Tully East's owner Barry Connell last summer.
O'Regan said: "I'm just so pleased that the horse won. He's a class horse and has been giving me that feel all year, and he has just run into a couple of good horses on the way. I was hopeful without being over-confident; we need so much luck here. He jumped, he travelled, and we had luck in the race with horses falling in front of us.
"I can't tell you how much I appreciate being back in this winner's enclosure, because it is so hard to get on these horses. I'll be forever grateful to Barry Connell and his family and to Alan Fleming for giving me the opportunity to ride this horse and other good horses. And the week is only starting, but whatever happens now we can look forward to the rest of it.
"I've never enjoyed a job as much as this one. I'm at that stage where I've got a lot of experience and I can handle things an awful lot better. We work well together as a team. It's great for Alan to have a Cheltenham winner - there's no better man to do the job when he's got the right ammunition, and hopefully we can build on this and maybe finish the season with a flurry."
Asked what else he has to look forward to this week, he replied: "I have two good rides tomorrow - in the Weatherbys Champion Bumper, Bakmaj wouldn't have a whole lot to find on the favourite, and Usuel Smurfer in the Glenfarclas Cross Country. I've had about four goes in that race and it hasn't quite worked out yet, but it might do tomorrow."
