The Mouse Doctor edged a good duel with Pempie in the closing stages of the mile-and-a-half handicap at Dundalk. Pak Army took them along but was headed just inside the final furlong as Pempie and The Mouse Doctor came either side of him.

There was little to choose between that pair on the run to the line with Tony Martin's charge just ahead at the line to record a short-head victory under Siobhan Rutledge.

The 11/2 winner had run into some traffic problems on his last visit to the track having been narrowly denied here in November.

Martin said:- “He’s a grand old horse and is in good order. Siobhan was excellent on him.

“He’ll mix it between the Flat and hurdles but he won’t be running on the soft.

“He was balloted out of the Ladbrokes Hurdle tomorrow but maybe it was just as well as the ground is fairly heavy. He’s a summer horse and wants good ground.”

(Quotes by Alan Magee)