Midnight Run comes home clear© Photo Healy Racing
Newcomer Midnight Run went into plenty of notebooks after routing the field in the concluding bumper at Galway.
The four-year-old gelding raced in fifth before being asked by Tom Hamilton to go about his business with two and a half furlongs to travel.
He made rapid headway to storm into the lead approaching the straight and drew further and further clear in the final furlong to hit the line five and a half lengths to the good.
Joseph O'Brien 's charge didn't go unbacked as he was returned at 7/2 from an opening show of 5/1 and indeed 9/1 in the morning.
Tom Hamilton said: "That was lovely. He picked up well and he went away and did it like a good horse.
“The further he went the better. He'll come on a lot from that, he's a well-bred horse and that was a good start.” Poker D'ainay the easy to back 2/1 favourite, came in second with gambled-on Jeremys Flame a further two and a quarter lengths back in third at 5/1.
Additional reporting by Gary Carson
