English raider Realisation hung on close home to claim the 1m4f handicap at Dundalk for Mark Johnston.
Grey Fairley sent the 9/4 favourite to the lead two furlongs from home and he kept on gamely.
25/1 shot The Pier chased him down inside the final furlong and just failed by a head to claw the winner back.
"In that wind I thought he did it fairly well. He's game and honest," said the trainer's wife Deirdre Johnston afterwards.
"He was quite relaxed through the race and that keeps up our strike rate here. We have four entered already for next Friday. The prize money here is great."
