A fourth winner of the weekend for Colin Keane, Gobi Desert made a lovely beginning to his career when landing the Irish Stallion Farms European Breeders Fund Maiden (Plus 10 Race) at the Curragh.

A second first-time out winner in as many days at headquarters for Ger Lyons, the strongly-backed 3/1 favourite Gobi Desert will have learned plenty in this seven furlong heat.

He had to challenge between horses and eventually saw off by Threeandfourpence and London Icon by half a length and the same.

Ger Lyons said: "Ideally he should have been in the race yesterday. I had three or four options for this race but they all fell by the wayside and we said we'd go with this fella.

"Ideally I'd like to have started him over six, and he got tired in the last furlong. He's a horse that I'll bring back to six. There is a winners' race in Naas and I'll have to keep this one and the winner yesterday apart. This horse has a little bit of quality about him, and will be a nice horse for the future if I still have him.

"I'd have been very confident of him in yesterday's race but it's just the way things fell and I don't want them all going against each other.

"He's a horse that we like and he likes the ground. He'll handle better. I'll concentrate on six until he tells me otherwise. He's a nice straight forward horse, and has plenty of stamina on the dam line."

(AM & EM)