Johnny Levins and Donagh O'Connor got the new year off to the best possible start when completing a 46/1 plus double as Prisoner's Dilemma landed the DundalkStadium.com Handicap.

The trainer and rider combination were on the mark in the opening sprint handicap where Brushwork (100/30) came out on top in an exciting three-way photo, and Prisoner's Dilemma also scored by a neck.

The 10/1 chance, who was following up a course and distance success at the previous meeting before Christmas, was produced to challenge over a furlong out and kept on well under pressure to hold off Stellar Spirit

The progressive Ampeson again ran a cracker just three-quarters-of-a-length back in third.

Levins said, "He did that well. I was a little bit concerned stepping up two grades from his last win but he's obviously improved a little bit. We left him nice and fresh for today so maybe that is the way to have him.

“I'm a little bit surprised because I thought he would take the run in that grade to get him back in the groove. It would have been a sterner test than his previous run so he surprised me in a nice way.

“We'll take him home and see if we can find another race for him up here. I don't think the handicapper can be too hard on him and he should be able to get back into a 50-85 race.”

(GC & AM)