Three Colours Red was nicely backed in Sligo and rewarded his followers with a decisive victory in the extended mile and two handicap.

He arrived here on the back of three solid placed efforts in a row and got rewarded for a drop back in trip.

Robbie Downey soon had him tracking Boris Bike before he cruised into the lead two and a half furlongs out. He was ridden in the straight to go on and win his race and he responded really well in the final furlong.

Downey could afford a peek over his shoulder deep inside the final furlong as the gelding powered home by five lengths. He was punted from 5/2 to 15/8 favourite at the track. Chicago Secret (5/1) kept on for second without troubling the winner. He was a whopping 12 lengths in front of third placed Regal Charmer (20/1) as the soft, heavy in places, going took its toll.

Joint owner Tim Brosnan, from Lispole Co Kerry, said: "We shouldn't have run him against the big boys at Tramore and we were scared of the ground today but he did it well and might run at the Curragh on Sunday."

The winner also carries the colours of Johnny and Nicola Griffin, from Cahirciveen.

Additional reporting by Thomas Weekes