The opener at Dundalk went off eight minutes late after a false start caused by a stalls malfunction.

Starter Joe Banahan revealed: "I pushed the button and they didn't open. I don't know what went wrong. There was a couple of seconds and then they all opened."

The runners were recalled and when they finally got away at the second time of asking Empirico land the spoils in good style.

Colm O'Donoghue produced his mount with a strong run to lead inside the final furlong and score by two lengths from Patrickswell

"He's a lovely horse. He's had a lot of problems but when he's good he's very good," said winning trainer David Marnane.

"We brought him here today as the ground was getting a bit quick for him and I don't want to chance him too often on it.

"He likes this surface and we might give him a bit of a break now until we get some juice in the ground.

"That's his third win this year and he's starting to creep up a bit but he's an improving sprinter."