Brendan Duke’s Sammy The Snake (12-1) won the Tally Ho Stud EBF Maiden at the Curragh, the first race of the new Flat season in Ireland.
Duke has enjoyed success with his raids across the Irish Sea and so it proved again as the son of Diktat got the better of Scupio by half a length under Davy Moran.
Declan McDonagh looked to have the race in the bag on Scupio but his mount proved less than straightforward in the closing stages.
Aidan O’Brien’s first runner of the season, Georgebernardshaw, faded tamely and finished well beaten.