< Tawariyka showed a tremendous willing attitude to fend off Merkel and land the Dundalk Fillies Maiden at the Louth circuit.

Merkel appeared to be travelling the stronger of the two as Gary Carroll was a narrow leader on Tawariyka turning for home.

Michael Halford's 6-4 chance kept finding more for Carroll and was never headed by her nearest rival, coming home half a length to the good.

David Marnane's Cool Athlete stuck his head out where it matters to collect the spoils in division one of the irish Stablestaff Association Awards March 3rd 2012 Handicap.

There were at least five horses with a chance deep inside the final furlong, but Fergal Lynch timed it right on the 5-1 chance, beating Elusive Express by half a length.

The second division was a more clear-cut affair as Jim Bolger's Heir To The Mint (12-1) shot clear two furlongs out under Rory Cleary before holding on to beat Knights Templar by a length and a quarter.

Bolger and Cleary notched a double when General Bunching (11-2) ran out a convincing winner of the first division of the Follow Dundalk On Facebook Handicap, coming home two and three-quarter lengths clear of Word For Word

Marnane and Lynch were forced to settle for second in the Winter Racing At Dundalk Handicap as He's Got Rhythm went down by half a length to Enigma Code

James McAuley's 12-1 chance made every yard under Andrew Thornton and held on well to take the spoils.< Farmleigh House found the winning post coming just in time when landing the www.dundalkstadium.com Handicap.

The 7-2 chance looked to have seen off his rivals under Niall McCullagh, but Lynch conjured up a dramatic late surge from Tsar Paul only to be just a short-head down at the line.

Charlie Swan and David Casey are names more associated with the jumps game, but they combined to land the [email protected] Maiden with 6-4 favourite Prince Of Fire