Beleaguerment seals McAuley's brace

Beleaguerment brought up a Dundalk double for trainer James McAuley when landing the second division of the six-furlong handicap.

The 10/1 shot was always to the fore behind Myrcella and got on terms at the halfway point.

Beleaguerment edged ahead with a quarter of a mile to travel but was strongly pressed and headed by Eglish at the furlong marker.

There was very little between the pair as they battled to the line, however, Beleaguerment wore down his rival score home to prevail by a head at 10/1 with Shane Foley in the plate.

Runner-up Eglish was the 11/5 'jolly' and was two and a half lengths clear of Collective Power at 4/1.

McAuley said: “He ran here last week but he got no cover on the outside and was very keen. He can just be pure ignorant.

“We put the red hood on him today and dropped him down in trip.

“He was tough in the finish and his ignorance probably helped him there. We claimed him from the same race we also got Sister Lola (on September 2nd).”

The Stewards requested a report from James McAuley, trainer as to the apparent improvement in form of Beleaguerment, placed first, as compared with its recent form. James McAuley stated that his charge got no cover from a bad draw,was stacked out wide and ran far too keen on its most recent run on the 15th of October. Having considered the evidence the Stewards noted the content of the report.

Additional reporting by Alan Magee