VETERAN sprinter Take Cover won the Al Basti Equiworld Mercury Stakes at Dundalk for a second time on Friday evening.

The English-trained 10-year-old has been in the form of his life this season and was completing a hat-trick here, having won the Beverley Bullet and a Group 3 at Newbury on his previous two starts.

Successful in this five-furlong event race two years ago, Take Cover was sent off the 8/11 favourite to continue his winning streak at Dundalk and, as usual, broke very smartly under regular jockey David Allan. He was headed over a furlong out by 16/1 chance Hit The Bid but rallied to lead again near the line.

Winning trainer David Griffith indicated afterwards that he would consider the Hong Kong Sprint if an invitation was forthcoming for the Singspiel gelding (rated 113) but it was more likely that his stable star would not race again until 2018.

Elsewhere on the card Pat Smullen recorded a double to reduce Colin Keane’s lead in the jockeys’ table to five. Smullen’s winners came aboard two Michael Halford-trained horses – Katiymann (5/2) and Massif Central (1/2). Keane drew a blank from seven rides. The season has two weeks left to run.

Darren Bunyan, trainer of Hit The Bid, got on the scoresheet with the aptly-named 14/1 scorer Storm Has Broken, while there were also victories for the Joseph O’Brien-trained Thomas O’Malley, Denis Coakley’s Boxer Dunford, Bouquet Garni from the Edward O’Grady yard, and the Ellmarie Holden-trained My Direction.

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