CAIRO booked his ticket for the UAE Derby later this month and a possible crack at the Kentucky Derby when landing the odds in the Listed Patton Stakes, the first Irish pattern race of 2023.

Ryan Moore made the trip over for Aidan O’Brien’s first runner of the year in Ireland and the son of Quality Road, who signed off last term with victory in the Group 3 Killavullan Stakes, was sent off the 30/100 favourite.

The hot-pot was close to the pace throughout and ridden to assert inside the final furlong for a two-length victory over News At Ten, with Stormy Entry a further length and a quarter back in third.

Stable representative Chris Armstrong said: “Aidan felt coming here that he was just ready to start and he’ll come on plenty for the run. Ryan felt he took a good blow and said he will come on plenty, experience and fitness-wise.

“The plan is, all being well, to go for the UAE Derby. He’s an exciting horse to have and hopefully he has a good season ahead of him. It is worth a try on the dirt in Dubai and, if it went well over there, we could possibly look at Kentucky (Derby). He has the Triple Crown entry.”

Slattery family strike

Almendares, trained by Andy Slattery for his wife Sharon and ridden by their son Andrew, opened his account at the fourth attempt in the Book Online @DundalkStadium.com Maiden.

The Havana Grey gelding travelled better than anything early in the straight and asserted in the closing stages for a length-and-a-quarter verdict over fellow 5/2 joint favourite Heartbeat.

The trainer’s brother and assistant Brian Slattery said: “He was only about 70 per cent ready the last day and Andrew said he just blew up. Today looked a better race and he bossed it. He’ll have no bother staying seven and loves the sound surface.”

Takuk (6/1), trained by the in-form Gavin Cromwell for Saiel Almutairi, landed the other maiden on the card - the Story Of Dundalk Stadium Book Available Online Maiden. Gary Carroll’s mount tracked the pacesetting Alazne throughout and proved the stronger by three quarters of a length as the pair drew clear inside the final furlong. The extended 1m2f event was marred by a fatal injury to 5/4 favourite Segomo, who broke a leg early in the straight.

Carroll said, “The last couple of runs we thought he was crying out for that trip. We went steady but leaving the back straight we started stepping it up and a better-run race would probably suit.”

JAMES McAuley has dominated claimer races at Dundalk over the past few years and the Naul trainer landed another as Inflection Point justified good support in the Irishinjuredjockeys.com Claiming Race.

The 7/2 shot, available at 8/1 overnight, only held on by the slimmest of margins under Billy Lee as Prince Of Abington outran odds of 40/1, storming home on the outer to be denied by just a nose.

The performance of the runner-up was all the more remarkable as rider Jessica O’Gorman was unseated at the start and the five-year-old ran loose.

McAuley claimed the winner out of John McConnell’s yard for €15,000 the previous Friday and said: “John had him fit last week and we don’t know much about him. I’d say going hard in front with (stablemate) Tai Sing Yeh helped him.”

Two horses were subsequently claimed from the Denis Hogan stable, with Tawaazon costing McAuley €15,000 and McConnell snapping up Bronze River for €4,000.

Khadaash collects

McConnell later got on the scoresheet with Khadaash (10/1) in the View Restaurant At Dundalk Stadium (Q.R.) Handicap. Alex Harvey partnered his third winner under rules as the Kingman gelding stepped up to two miles on his first handicap start, wearing down The Jam Man inside the final furlong for a three-quarters-of-a-length success.

McConnell said: “Alex is very, very good in those amateur races. Khadaash is unexposed and there is a two-mile race at Lingfield on Good Friday. He might not get into it but he’d love the surface and travels like a dream.”

TURF Range recorded a fourth course win when readily landing the Crowne Plaza Dundalk Race & Stay Package Handicap. Owned and bred by the Mulligan family and trained by David Broad, the 6/1 shot was racing off a career-high mark of 70 but that proved no problem as he stormed home up the stands’ side rail under Danny Gilligan to beat Roman Bull by an easy two and a quarter lengths.

Gilligan said: “He settled in lovely, got a bit of cover and lengthened the whole way up the straight. One thing Dave said to me going out was ‘keep him wide up the straight, he’ll love that’. He couldn’t have done it much better.”

Might And Mercy defied a drift in the market (9/2-8/1) to land the DundalkStadium.com Handicap for Colin Keane and Noel Meade. The four-year-old filly is owned by former flat handicapper Ciaran Kennelly along with Mairead Cahill, Caroline Hendron and former Irish rugby international John Muldoon, and kept on well under the champion jockey to beat Free Solo by a neck.

Meade said, “She’s a little bit quirky when she gets there, she parks a bit. She has loads of ability and a great cruising speed. We were thinking she would go a mile but Colin said she could go back to six.”

Meade came within a nose of completing a double in the concluding Dundalk Winter Series Leading Trainer & Jockey Championship Handicap, with Knockmore Prince just losing out to Distillate.

“She was running solidly, but just not winning and Cian (MacRedmond) gave her a smashing ride. I knew she would improve a lot after the last day and the boys (Mark Devlin, Nigel O’Hare and Philip Smith) are thrilled to bits,” said trainer Ado McGuinness of the 12/1 winner.