Carroll delighted to get Texas Sun up for McAuley

Texas Sun wore down Jomont to grab the honours in the opening claimer over an extended 10 furlongs in Sligo.

This race was put back by 25 minutes due to an electrical fault at the track.

Jomont kicked on past Charlie Darling climbing for the home bend and Dylan Browne McMonagle soon set sail for home in the straight.

Gary Carroll got a tune out of third-running Teas Sun who improved into second inside the final furlong. Jomont was all out in the closing stages and Texas Sun maintained his progress to collar him in the final strides.

The 14/1 winner beat the 16/1 runner-up by a head with 7/2 favourite Cafe Con Leche keeping on for third a further length and a-half away.

Texas Sun was one of four representatives for James McAuley who said: "I was delighted with his run in Ballinrobe and he was unexposed compared to a lot of these.

"To be fair, Ger and Shane Lyons said he just had one or two issues but if they were ironed out, he'd be a grand horse.

"He handled the track here better than my other runners. We thought he'd get the trip and Gary said he wants that trip and probably more. He's a grand straightforward horse and he'll do a job, whether that be for me or somebody else."

Carroll added: "The ground is soft and he handled it well. As my valet said inside, riding for James McAuley in a claimer is like riding for Aidan O'Brien in the Guineas and the second or third strings can be good enough as well!"

McAuley claimed Texas Sun from Ger Lyons after he ran seventh in a Dundalk claimer last month. He ran fourth on stable debut in a Ballinrobe maiden later in July.

Friendly claims were successful by McAuley on the winner Texas Sun and by Charles Byrnes on third-placed Cafe Con Leche.

Additional reporting by Mark Nunan