Land Lover shows grit to score for Sheridan and Hogan

Land Lover showed a really willing attitude when battling back bravely under Joey Sheridan to take the Decoclip Construction Company Handicap at Sligo.

The Denis Hogan trained three-year-old was smartly away under Sheridan, leading Dark Enigma in the initial stages of the contest.

Ben Coen threw down a strong challenge over two furlongs out, briefly getting to the front on Dark Enigma before Land Lover regained the lead on the inside rail.

Like the eventual winner, it was another offspring of Land Force, the Sean Davis trained and ridden Layoftheland who stayed on best to take the runner-up spot.

At the finish, just three-quarters-of-a-length separated the pair, with Dark Enigma back in third.

Joey Sheridan said: "We thought he'd run well the last day at Dundalk but he just sidestepped out of the stalls.

"We thought if we got him up there today, he should do something like that.

"He's kind of been a work in progress, he probably wasn't fully right the last couple of weeks but he's bang there now.

"Things got a bit tight at the top of the straight but it actually helped me. He bumped off the other horse and it gave him a bit of a spurt.

"He had a good look when he hit the front in the last fifty yards so there should be a bit of improvement in him."

Additional reporting by Mark Nunan.