Fitted with a first time tongue strap and cheekpieces, Gamigin made the breakthrough in the opener at Sligo this afternoon, the Lake Isle Of Innisfree Claiming Race.

Owned and trained by Jack Davison, the son of Dark Angel showed promise on his first two outings but had been disappointing of late and was well-beaten on his first two tries in handicap company.

Settled towards rear by Oisin Orr, the 5/1 chance made steady headway from five furlongs out and was pushed along in third as they entered the straight.

Soon ridden in pursuit of the front-running Alice Milligan (15/2 to 9/2), the bay victor gradually made up the deficit in the final furlong, hitting the front inside the last 50 yards, going on to score by half a length.

Alice Milligan had to settle for second under Ronan Whelan for Mark McNiff, while All The Mollies (11/1) ran on well to take third, another half a length back. Approach The City was sent off the 10/3 favourite but he finished a disappointing last of twelve.

"It's nice to get a bracket for him." Davison said.

"He's a horse that showed promise in good maiden company and just seemed to have regressed a little bit, so I said I'd drop him down in grade and see if we could boost his confidence.

"What will be will be now (as regards being claimed) but I'm glad that he got the win on the board anyway.

"He's a well-bred, athletic horse, and early on he was maybe slightly on the weak side, and the regression could have been down to weakness, more than anything, after his first couple of runs.

"We freshened him up, and built him back up, and we were rewarded today.

"I'd imagine he'll be popular enough (for claims) but I'm happy either way."

After the race, Gamigin (E10,000) and Alice Milligan (E8,000) were both successfully claimed by James McAuley.

STEWARDS REPORTS

The Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board Veterinary Officer examined Approach The City, trained by James McAuley, at the request of the Stewards and reported the animal to be post race normal.

G.M. Ryan, rider of Ben Alexander (GB) trained by H.Rogers, reported to the Clerk of Scales that his mount stopped quickly.

Additional reporting by Mark Nunan