McCullagh excels on James Henry

After a number of near misses, James Henry finally got his turn in the first division of the seven-furlong handicap.

Available at 6/1 this morning, he was the one punters wanted from lunchtime and justified 6/4 favouritism with no little assistance by way of a strong drive from Scott McCullagh.

The winner sat second and travelled well to lead, probably sooner than ideal, halfway down the straight. Morning Approach and Bucky Larson threw down strong challenges in the closing stages but McCullagh made sure that today was the day for the five-year-old who had a head and half a length to spare over that pair.

Leanne Breen trains the winner for the Varland Syndicate and said: : "He has taken his racing so well.

"Sometimes you get them to come second and maybe that was their night to win, so I am very happy with him.

"Hopefully there is another one in him.

"Scott was good and strong on him, and there was very little lead on his (James Henry's) back.

"I thought he had won the last day when he came past me.

"I have 15 in at the minute and we are trying to stay at Dundalk mostly, we have a few turf horses. They are all riding out, so we will keep going.

"We'll have a few running in January."

Quotes from Michael Graham