Gary Carroll edged ahead in the apprentice title race when taking the concluding contest at Dundalk this afternoon aboard the Sabrina Harty-trained Kalann
The victory moves Carroll on to 38 for the season, one ahead of Ben Curtis and three clear of Joseph O'Brien.
Kalann had shown plenty of promise in two starts at the track before today and made no mistake this time.
Carroll sent the well-supported 11/10 favourite to the front over a furlong out and he was always just holding the challenge of Harranda scoring by three-parts-of-a-length at the line.
The winner is set to have his sights switched to the jumping game after getting off the mark on the level.
"We were waiting to run at Fairyhouse in the juvenile hurdle as he's a great jumper," said Harty.
"But this meeting came up so we decided to come as we didn't know if Fairyhouse would go ahead or not.
"We couldn't gallop him at home, only hacking and cantering, so we thought at least we could get a good blow into him here.
"He's an improving horse and is getting stronger. He stays so well and jumps well too.
"He likes the game and has a good attitude. He'll be a nice horse for next year.
"We'll look for a hurdle for him and he should handle a cut. We didn't rush him earlier in the year as he was growing and that's why we waited for Dundalk."
