Rutledge & McConnell on the mark with Kartayaz

Kartayaz recorded a fourth career win and his third at Dundalk, as he claimed the second divide of the irishinjuredjockeys.com Handicap.

Successful at Down Royal on his penultimate start, the John McConnell trained five-year-old finished down the field on his most recent outing at Navan.

Sent off an easy-to-back 12/1 chance this evening, the Iffraaj gelding raced mainly in third under Siobhan Rutledge and was pushed along to challenge on inner from early in the straight.

Ridden over a furlong from home, he edged to the front inside the final 150 yards, keeping on well from there to score by three parts of a length.

.Ta Na La (17/2), who looked set to score when hitting the front over a furlong out, ultimately had to settle for second under Wayne Lordan for Ted Walsh.

Returned the 11/8 favourite, Kampala Beach was another length away in third with Ronan Whelan aboard for Mick Halford.

"He did (dig deep). He came off the bridle good and early and I thought I was a little bit under pressure coming into the straight, but, in fairness, he was tough and he stayed really well," Rutledge revealed.

"Sometimes he can be a little bit quirky in the stalls, we have a routine now that seems to work well with him so we are just sticking to that routine, and trying to keep it simple and he enjoys that.

"He loves the surface and he actually goes on ground with a bit of cut in it as well, so he is unique that way.

"He's a very fun horse for the connections."

Additional reporting by Michael Graham