The opening Floodlit Friday Nights At Dundalk Nursery Handicap at Dundalk this evening went to the Joanna Morgan trained Desiderata under Rory Cleary.

The son of Alhaarth was held up in rear by Cleary before making good headway on the outer in the straight. Desiderata eventually moved to the front with just 50 yards to race to record a length win over Sherzam

Afterwards Morgan stated “he did what I always thought he would do!

“He's a bit tricky and maybe babyish more than anything but the penny is after dropping with him now. He did threaten to be a good horse early on and fair play to Rory (Cleary) as he needed a strong ride.”

Additional reporting by Alan Magee