Ireland has been a happy hunting ground for Sir Maximilian this year and the gutsy sprinter won on his travels for the third time when taking the feature Mercury Stakes at Dundalk.

The five-year-old, a winner at the Curragh and Tipperary in the summer when handled by Tim Pitt and now with Worcestershire-based Ian Williams, was sent off the 7-4 favourite for the Listed contest in the hands of regular pilot Stevie Donohoe.< Abstraction went off in front and had everything bar the winner cooked entering the final furlong, but Sir Maximilian collared the leader close home, just as he had at Tipperary, to win by what was a cosy head in the end.

There was a decent prize for the Book Your Christmas Party At Dundalk Handicap and it went to top-weight Captain Joy who had slipped down the ratings and was ending a drought going back to his first start last year.

Pat Smullen had the Tracey Collins-trained grey sharing the lead with Strait Of Zanzibar for much of the way on and committed early in the straight before the 5-1 favourite ran on strongly to hold Rummaging by a length.< Gretzky had plenty to do at the top of the straight in the Crowne Plaza Race & Stay Handicap, but Connor King weaved his way through and Mattie Smith's 20-1 shot grabbed Hardstone on the line, winning by a short head.

Seamie Heffernan soon had the beautifully bred Ballydoyle contender Adeste Fideles (2-1 favourite) on the front end in the Floodlit Friday Nights At Dundalk Maiden and the hitherto frustrating filly cleared away to score by four and three-quarter lengths.

With three unplaced runs under her belt the Adrian Keatley-trained Anonymous Lady (9-1) found herself on a winning mark in the www.dundalkstadium.com Nursery and was driven into the lead in the final furlong by Billy Lee to score by half a length.

Robbie Downey brought The Dancing Lord (6-1) with a late charge to grab the first leg of the apprentice handicap, while Dylan Robinson repeated the trick in the second version on 8-1 chance War Room