Simply Ned was awarded the Paddy’s Rewards Club Chase at Leopardstown after odds-on favourite and first-past-the-post Min was disqualified for causing substantial interference.

The duo came very close together after jumping the final fence, with Nicky Richards’ stable star Simply Ned going for a audacious run up the rail under Mark Walsh.

Min, who had made practically all the running, first appeared to bump Simply Ned not long after the last before again leaning on him with the winning post in sight.

That clash forced Simply Ned into the rail, sending some pieces of plastic flying, and following a lengthy deliberation, the stewards opted to reverse the placings.

Min was sent off the 2-7 favourite for the two-mile-one-furlong race but he had been forced to work hard to fend off Simply Ned, eventually passing the post with half a length to spare.

For 16-1 shot Simply Ned, it was a long-awaited triumph as, having placed in the last three renewals of this race, he finally enjoyed his day in the Grade One spotlight.

Walsh said: “You don’t want to win a Grade One like that but I felt with a clear run I’d definitely have won. He (Min) impeded me the whole way up to the line.

“I jumped the last behind Paul (Townend, Min’s jockey) but there was plenty of room.

“When the rail came, Paul started leaning on top of me and there was a significant bang quite close to the line. He broke the line and was impeded really badly.

“Fair play to connections, they kept bringing him for this and I must thank Davy Russell for getting me the ride.”

Richards said: “The other horse clearly gave him a couple of bumps and the second one was a fairly hefty one.

“Mark came in and was adamant he would have won the race. The old horse was coming, and I’d say justice has been done.

“Mark gave him an absolute peach of a ride. What a ride he gave him, and he did absolutely everything he was asked.

“It will probably be the plan to come back here in February.”

To top-up Townend’s misery, he was also handed a two-day ban for careless riding.