Gale Force Ten and Joseph O'Brien© Photo Healy Racing
< Gale Force Ten lived up to his billing as the odds-on favourite for the Elusive Pimpernel Patton Stakes at Dundalk as he showed too much toe for the opposition.
Aidan O'Brien's three-year-old, who signed off last season by finishing a close-up third in the Middle Park Stakes at Newmarket, had an easier task that might have been expected as market rival Cougar Ridge was withdrawn after playing up at the stalls.
Joseph O'Brien got the 10-11 chance away sharply and soon took over the lead from Dont Bother Me keeping going strongly in the straight to hold that rival by two and three-quarter lengths. He could be bound for the French 2000 Guineas.
Jim Bolger is in tremendous form and put another one on the scoreboard when four-year-old debutante Pastilla (4-5 favourite) forged clear in the final quarter-mile to take the two-mile www.thetote.com Maiden by four lengths under Kevin Manning.
Tommy Stack's filly Muizenberg Nights (5-1), placed in her three previous starts, pounced in the final 100 yards of the www.thetote.com Handicap to win by three-quarters of a length after Wayne Lordan found the splits coming at the right time.
The jockey notched a double when newcomer Diocesan Policy (9-4), from another in-form yard, that of David Wachman, ran on strongly after leading a furlong out to take the www.thetote.com Median Auction Maiden by a length and a half.
The John McConnell-trained Phebes Wish (11-4 favourite) was travelling better than anything at the top of the straight in the www.thetote.com Handicap for older horses, and he quickened up nicely for Gary Carroll to beat Sassaway by half a length.
Ben Curtis arrived late on the scene in the mile www.thetote.com Maiden, surging down the outside on Romantic (4-1) to grab the joint-favourites Zeftan and Energize and win by half a length.
