Three, two and now one for Al Murqab

Al Murqab came with a sustained challenge in the final furlong of the Leopardstown Christmas Festival 2013 Maiden to win going away by a length and a quarter.

Gary Carroll stoked his charge up and the pair moved past Shes No Joke and Newberry Hill who had to settle for second and third respectively at 8/1 and 11/1.

The winner took plenty of supporters along being backed from 11/4 to 2/1 in the betting market for this nine-furlong contest. He was improving on opening efforts of third and second places.

Successful handler Andrew Oliver said: “That was great. The form was there, he had two good runs to his name. He handled the ground, Gary was very impressed with him and he will be a nice horse for next year. That is Mubarak Al Naemi’s first winner in Ireland, and he has been very good to support me.” Laviniad the 7/4 favourite, was fifth under Kevin Manning for Jim Bolger.

Additional reporting by Donal Murphy