Leg shakes off well-backed Mr Mooj

Shake A Leg made the breakthrough on his sixth start as he battled gamely to see off Mr Mooj in the TRM Hoofmaker Apprentice Handicap.

Having failed to make a significant impact on his first three starts, the Andy Oliver trained three-year-old showed some promise on his first two tries in handicap company, finishing fourth to Red Kelly on his most recent outing.

Upped in trip to a mile-and-a-half for the first time this afternoon, the son of Excelebration was sent off at 10/1 (from 14s) under Mikey Sheehy.

Soon settled in second, the bay victor was pushed along to lead from the two furlong pole and while soon challenged by the 7/4 favourite Mr Mooj, he kept finding in front and went on to prevail by a neck.

The aforementioned well-backed market leader, who was available at 7/2 in early shows, had to settle for second under Shane Crosse for Joseph O'Brien, while Place Des Vosges (6/1) and Lyrical Attraction (14/1) were third and fourth respectively.

Oliver said of the Patrick McElroy owned winner: "He always looked like he wanted to step up in trip. He'd been running very well over a mile and two.

"Mikey Sheehy gave him a lovely ride and everything was very straight forward and he got a great run through.

"He has a nice big frame and hopefully he'll progress, he should do physically."

Additional reporting by Alan Magee